Burn it Down
by redheadturkey
Summary: When Hojo discovers Reno is of the ancient bloodline, he arranges an accident to get him for an experiment, which triggers a journey of destruction that puts Cloud, his lover, in a difficult position. To talk him down, or to kill him so he does not kill all.
1. Chapter 1

Burn it Down

By Diane Kelley Chapter 1

_The cycle repeated_

_As explosions broke in the sky_

_All that I needed_

_Was the one thing I couldn't find_

_And you were there at the turn _

_Waiting to let me know._

"C'mon, Cloud, how bad could it be? It's just cadet training." The voice held a cocky tone, the drawling slang that was typical of the one speaking the words coloring the sentence. A red puffball of spikes with a short rat tail that was gradually being grown out gleamed in the sun that was coming in through the window of the Turk's quarters. For Reno it was a chance to break up the monotony that had been his days since he'd managed to get himself in trouble with Verdot after his last mission into Wutai where he had been temporarily grounded and he was not about to pass that up.

The blond cadet shook his head. "I dunno, Reno. I just have a _bad_ feeling about this whole thing. I don't know why, but I do." The teenager's nerves crawled with an almost preternatural knowledge that something about this whole thing didn't _feel_ right. It bothered him even more that he couldn't figure out what.

"Cloud, relax, yo. You'll be there the whole time, right? So if somethin' goes wrong, you'll be able to get help. Not that I think anything will, I mean Hell, we're inside the Tower, one of the most secure places in the world. What could go wrong?" That was a question that in the days to come Reno would wonder why he had ever asked, but hindsight, unfortunately, had always been twenty twenty where almost anyone was concerned.

* * *

Deep in the bowels of the sixty eighth floor lay the ShinRa Incorporated Science Department, a place very few escaped from once they had been carried through the steel elevator by force. Not unless the man who ran the place with an iron fist, the one who bent over the computer banks which was the only source of light for the lobby area of the place that had dark hair drawn back in a ponytail, a straight nose in a hawk like face, and black rimmed glasses wanted them to. A wicked smile crossed the pallid skinned features as he read over something that had made him quite happy in light of the fact that it was something he had wanted for a very long time.

"There was one of them under our nose the whole time and I didn't even know it. Well, well, boy, you won't escape me long. I may not be able to keep you in the lab as I would be able to the girl, but it doesn't matter. I will be able to observe the results just as well without you here." Professor Hojo, for that was the name of the man who spoke, turned to the tall, shapely woman with upswept blond hair who wore a tight red dress that stood next to him. "You know what to do, Director Scarlet." he told her, those sharp hazel eyes seeming to pierce deep.

Scarlet shuddered as those eyes settled onto her. The man creeped out nearly everyone who ever encountered him, and the Director of Weapons Research was no exception. But Hojo had made her a promise she couldn't refuse, and all she had to do was reprogram a few Guard Robots. Not very hard a task at all. _Feel a bit sorry for the Turk. I'd love to know how he hid out in plain sight so long. I would have thought he'd have been caught by now, though I suppose he isn't a Turk for nothing_.

"Of course Professor." and the laugh that was her signature slipped free as she walked out of the lab, heading to make the adjustments that needed to be made as the sounds of the cadets moving toward the area that had been set up for the training session four floors below echoed up toward her. Her eyes scanned over the two in the front, the redhead that was the target, and his blond friend that he was in conversation with the whole way.

* * *

"Now, listen up." Reno's voice spread out over the crowd, strong and sure, as he called the group of cadets to attention. "This is just a training exercise. You are in no real danger, but your performance is gonna be graded. So get out there and do your best." He leaned back against the wall in his normal insouciant slouch as they filed out into the massive circular area with metal walls and floors that they were using for the training session.

His eyes cataloged their movements. There was a reason Reno was chosen to grade these tests, as his sharp vision separated out those who would likely rise into SOLDIER from those who would end up in the infantry instead.

"Look out!" came the yell from one of the cadets as one of the robots began to malfunction, the sizzling electricity f the beam cannon it carried arcing out into the air as the redhead acknowledged the warning by ducking out of the way. The beam struck the metal of the floor beneath his feet as he rolled back to them and it melted like ice under the summer sun, caving in underneath his feet and plunging him approximately twenty feet to the corrugated steel below.

For one terrifying moment it seemed as if gravity had abandoned the Turk as he hung there in the air like a cartoon character hanging above a gorge, breath seizing in his lungs and heart pounding against his ribs, before free fall caught him and he let out a loud, ear shattering scream of utter dread, his hair whipping around to obscure his sight, before hitting the floor below.

Cloud's eyes went huge as he watched the Turk plunge to the floor below, cringing at the muted thud as his body impacted with the corrugated metal, blood pooling around him. The blond cadet ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time to get down them and reach Reno, praying to all the Gods that he'd still be alive when he reached him. "Get the medics!" he yelled, watching as two cadets almost tripped over each other running out the door to get them. "Stay with me, Reno." he murmured, gripping one shaking hand as he knelt by the redhead's side, amazed to see he was not only still alive, but still conscious, the mako in his blood keeping him going when anyone without enhancements would have been dead.

"Cloud. . ." his voice was ragged with pain, throat tight, blood bubbling up from between pale pink lips as h e struggled for every single breath, feeling as if he was breathing water just to try to take enough oxygen into badly punctured lungs to stay on this side of the Lifestream. Pain radiated like a fire through shattered bone and twisted limbs, seared through bruised and pierced organs as vital fluid fled his body at a far faster pace than he could ever hope to replace it. "I love you." the words, spoken almost as an invocation.

"No, Reno, don't you dare. You hold onto those words, because you are going to live, and you are going to get to say them to me again when you're recovered." The young man from Nibelheim had never felt for anyone the way he did about Reno before, the all encompassing emotion that made one's heart feel like no longer beating at the very thought of losing them. He gripped Reno's hand as the medics came.

Rude was leaning back against the wall. he'd gotten the call from the dark haired SOLDIER from Banora, Angeal Hewley, who had been the commander on duty for the training exercise, and had gone there as quickly as he could. Sharp eyes watched from behind dark sunglasses as the one medic he trusted implicitly, a young woman with dark hair and gray eyes named Harmony Halcyon, directed the crew that lifted Reno up onto a gurney and toward the infirmary.

"Don't worry." she told the Turk in a quiet tone as she walked by him. "I'll make sure he gets out of this all right." and then she was gone, on the tail end of the stretcher as it was wheeled out and down the hallway.

* * *

Scarlet, as soon as it was done, headed back down to see Hojo. He'd promised if this worked she'd have more power and wealth than she would ever know what to do with, something that a woman who'd grown up poor could in no way refuse. She wasn't entirely sure that she trusted him, though, truth be told. Stories had been told about people who had made deals with Hojo, only to disappear into the bowels of the lab never to be seen again. Certainly not a thing she would want to have happen to her if she could avoid it. "It's done" she told the professor. "They'll try to save him, watch and see, but you can go in like the good Samaritan when it becomes obvious they can not and offer the SOLDIER treatment to him, just as you'd planned."

That actually drew a smile to her own lips. Even if she did feel a bit sorry for the boy, it called to her own love of weaponry, and this man, when they were finished, would be a living, breathing _walking_ weapon. It was enough to get her heart pounding and pulse racing a bit just thinking about it. She swept back a lock of blond hair as she watched the scientist turn to her, slowly, with his hands behind his back.

"Excellent." he grinned almost wickedly at Scarlet. "I'll have your reward as soon as this plays out, my dear, but for now. ..why don't you go back to your office and watch the show? This will be. ..entertaining. I promise you that much." He tilted back his head and laughed, that cold, disturbing laughter that Scarlet would never forget for the remainder of her life.

She left the lab, almost quickly enough that it could be said that she was fleeing it.

* * *

Zack Fair, SOLDIER Second Class and one of Cloud's best friends, swept his hair through dark spikes as violet eyes peered through the pane of glass that stood between the two of them and the ICU room where the red haired Turk's shattered body rested in a bed on life support while they waited to see if he would be able to heal enough to be survive the surgery that would repair his damaged limbs the remainder of his damaged organs that the initial emergency surgery had not yet covered. He rested a hand on Cloud's shoulder, doing his best to reassure him. "He's strong, Cloud. He'll get through this."

_I just wish I felt as confident as I sound_. The young man from the forest village of Gongaga thought to himself. _It's easy to see how badly that fall messed the kid up, and he's just not strong enough to make it through the extensive surgeries that would be needed to fix him all the way. _But Zack didn't want Cloud to lose hope. The kid had already been through enough, between the bullying and everyone assuming he couldn't do what he'd come here for.

He remembered watching Cloud and Reno get to know each other. Both of them had been bullied badly by some of their comrades during the early portions of their training, and they had become friends through that shared experience. One memory in particular stuck in his mind, he'd just barely caught the tail end of it as Reno had shocked two cadets that had chosen to haze Cloud by sticking his head in one of the toilets in the mens' lavatory.

The redhead's natural speed had served him in good stead,. he'd easily dodged the slower movements of the larger cadets, and with pressure point techniques he'd learned from his years on the street he'd easily incapacitated the two, and he and Cloud had been near-inseparable ever since. Now, the boy was hurt, possibly dying, and Zack had no idea what he could do to change it, or how he'd deal with his friend if that happened.

He faintly heard the phone from down the hallway as the doctor in charge of the ICU ward answered it. He had no idea that the call was from Verdot, the Turk's director, checking on his charge, wanting to know of his condition.

* * *

"Director Verdot." Doctor Elias Carstairs was one of the best physicians ShinRa had ever hired, if healing materia couldn't handle the injury, or it was something that required actual repair instead of simple healing, he was the first one called. "The boy's injuries were. . .exceedingly severe. That he survived long enough to reach the infirmary is a testament to his will to live. I've done what I can to stabilize him, and he's holding steady for now. . .but I can't guarantee what kind of recovery he'll have even if he recovers enough to receive the surgeries he will need to have any sort of mobility again. His back was broken, all four limbs, and the majority of his vital organs took damage. It's going to take a miracle."

"Do everything you can." Verdot sighed, a hand rubbing the scar along his right cheek, a nervous habit, as he closed his eyes. That boy was like a son to him, when he had come to them he'd been like a wild animal, frightened and traumatized. It had taken considerable effort between himself and Tseng to hone the terrified and half starved street kid into the Turk he had become. He would not have all of that effort wasted, but more. . the loss in itself would hurt more than the older man wanted to admit. _He reminds me far too much of my Felicity in that instinct and fighting spirit. I lost her to the streets and to her own ambitions. . I will not lose Reno. I refuse_.

As he hung up from the doctor, another call came in. "Director. I heard what happened to your protégé. Such a horrible tragedy." Hojo's voice held it's typical oily tone, one that said he had something up his sleeve. "I might be able to help you, if you want to save the boy. I think we both know that with the injuries he sustained there is no conceivable way he's going to recover enough for the President to wish to keep him on, and we both know well what happens to a Turk who is too badly injured to continue to serve the Company. They are put out to pasture. . .permanently."

"What is it you're proposing, Professor?" The Turk Director was naturally more than a little uneasy at Hojo's tone, anyone who had ever dealt with the man knew it wasn't one that spelled any good news at all if they heard it. And he didn't like one bit what it implied, but what else could he do? He knew the Professor was correct in his assessment. Without some drastic intervention, Reno was going to die from his injuries, and even if he survived, he'd be disposed of as no longer being an asset to the company. Not a fate the young man deserved one bit.

"I am willing to administer the SOLDIER treatments to him. . .the only thing I wish in return is to be able to observe him. To watch the results as he recovers and adjusts to the strength and speed increases that are likely to be the result of them. I believe that is a fair deal." The words were spoken in an almost conversational manner as Hojo held onto the phone in his hand, the expression on his face speaking of his confidence that Verdot would give the go ahead. After all, what choice did the man have? It was approve the experiment, or lose his most promising recruit.

"All right. I'll sign off on the order. But he is not to be in the lab. He is to be observed while in the field." Verdot gave that condition only because he knew Hojo and the way he operated far too well. "I'll not lose the boy to your scientific greed. I understand the necessity of making sure that all goes as it should, and your desire to see how it would work with a fighter based on speed rather than brute strength, but this will be done in such a way as to not remove him from those that he trusts. He's been traumatized enough."

"I will be down in the infirmary within one half of an hour, Director. I expect you to be there with pen in hand." and Hojo disconnected the call, a wider smile gracing his face. _It's going just as planned_. He thought to himself. _Like taking candy from a baby. He says the boy is too stay within the Turks. I'll allow it, for now, but soon enough he will find that there is no managing him within those ranks. He will be moved to SOLDIER simply to preserve the lives and safety of his Turks. And then I will have unobstructed observation of the boy_.

* * *

Footsteps clattered along the tile floor as suited men approached. Verdot brushed his fingers through his dark spiked hair as his Wutain vice director stood with his arms crossed in front of him,. dark eyes serious. Tseng had helped train the boy who lay in the bed before him, and seeing him this way was nearly heartbreaking to him.

Rude's expression as well was somber. He had refused to leave the infirmary, his partner's face being so unnaturally pale and the tube down his throat making his jaw clench. He had a feeling that what had happened had not been an accident, but there was no way to prove it. He had his suspicions about who it had been, and why, but without proof there was little he could do about it.

The footsteps that came up the hall shortly after were softer, more muted. Professor Hojo wore soft soled loafers, more comfortable in the environment of his laboratory than the dress shoes that the Turks favored. In his lab coat breast pocket was a syringe with a capped needle, and a vial with an oily substance that vacillated between green and black, the two colors interwoven in a way that made it appear as if two ribbons of differing colors had been woven together in the same bottle. He held out the form for Verdot to sign, and as soon as he had the signature he smiled. "Excellent. . .now move aside."

Cloud's expression held a stubborn tint to it, jaw clenched, lips pressed together. "Just what do you think you're doing?" he growled, the tone of his voice clearly speaking of his disapproval of Hojo being anywhere near the man he loved. He still had every faith that his love's stubborn will would carry him through to recover enough for surgery so he could return to the work he had come to love. He didn't trust the scientist one bit, and the vial he had in his pocket gave off an evil feeling that he wanted no where near Reno.

"Saving the boy's life." was Hojo's only answer as he gave Verdot his own copy of the consent forms for his own records, before stepping into the ICU room with the vial and syringe in hand. He pulled the substance up into the syringe, tapped the side of it to assure there were no air bubbles, before lifting it toward Reno's IV line.

"Sir, are you really going to let him do this?" Cloud asked, somewhat shocked. "Use an experimental treatment on one of your Turks? I mean, how do we even know this will work? What if something goes wrong? If you let him do this there is no going back. You won't be able to reverser it, I've seen enough First Class SOLDIER to know that." The young man knew what he was in for if he actually made it far enough to be in SOLDIER, but it would be with his own consent, and foreknowledge. That this was being done without his lover's foreknowledge or consent bothered him immensely.

"What choice do we have?" Verdot stated softly. "It's this, or let him die. I'd rather take the chance that something might go wrong than lose him, Cadet Strife. I know that you believe he can fight his way back, but even if he did. . .he'd likely be a cripple and what kind of life is that for someone like him? This gives him a true fighting chance, one he would not otherwise have. He deserves this much." He set a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "This is the best thing for him. It is the very best chance that he has of recovering and having any kind of a life once he does."

Cloud's shoulders slumped as he finally relented, watching as the black and green fluid fed through the line. It would take several hours for the cells to bond completely with his dna, and to see if he began to heal. Then would be to see the aftereffects, and the physical therapy to help him learn to compensate for the additional strength and speed that the enhancement would likely give him.

* * *

It was two days before the teal eyes began to flutter. The parchment thin lids felt as if they had lead weights tied to them with the difficulty he had in opening them. He felt pain, but it was distant, muted to a great extent by the drugs that were circulating through his bloodstream. Reno could feel a hand gripping his, and his fingers moved, ever so slightly, in an attempt to grip it in return. A faint moan split the chilled air of the ICU, indicating the redhead's return to the world of the waking.

Cloud had fallen asleep bent over the side of the bed, his head laying on it with the blond spikes brushing against one pale skinned arm, making Reno's nose scrunch as the fact that it tickled began to trickle into his senses. He couldn't talk, he was still far too weak, but the only thing he could think was.. . .he was, despite all the odds, despite what he had been through, amazingly enough alive. He had survived a twenty five foot fall onto steel plate and he was actually beginning to mend, to show some signs of recovery. _How? How the fuck am I alive? I was dyin'. .. I know I was dyin', an' yet here I am in the infirmary an' I'm alive, awake, an' it looks like without much if any in the way of serious neurological damage. But that should be impossible. What the Hell was done to me to make this possible? _But internally he shrugged, he knew he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, he just had no idea how it was possible.

"Reno?" Came Cloud's groggy voice. "Oh thank the Gods you're awake." He wasn't going to burden the other with the knowledge of how close it had been, or how terrifying it had been for the cadet to see his lover's mangled body laying on the metal a story below, blood billowing out in a widening pool around him, or how it had felt to hear the choked out words of love as if he'd known he was dying. He never wanted to experience that again as long as he lived.

But what shocked him was when those eyes opened. The aquamarine had taken on a glow so bright that it was almost like having an extra lamp in the darkened room, and the pupils were slitted like a snake's. Or a cat's. Cloud didn't tell Reno about the physical alterations. . .not yet. He wasn't sure how he'd take it, and he was only now on the road to fully mending. As tenuous as the burgeoning recovery was, there was no way he wanted to risk setting it back by giving the Turk news he was very much less than ready for.

A smile was the response to Cloud calling him as he gripped that hand a bit tighter, some amount of his strength beginning to return. "Water." he croaked out. His mouth felt like the very sands of the Corel Desert, his tongue sticking to the roof of it like glue. When Cloud lifted the cup of tepid room temperature water to his lips he drank deeply as if it was Gaia's finest vintage of wine. Relief flooded through his body at the quenching of his extreme thirst before he asked the first question that came to his mind. And it was the one Cloud least wanted to answer. "How am I even still alive? I was dyin', I know I was dyin'. I should be dead right now, an' I'm not."

Cloud looked down and away. "You were given the same treatment that SOLDIER are. It was the only way to save you. You were dying, and. . .I didn't want to admit it.." _I wanted to think you had a chance but it would have taken a miracle for you to beat it on your own, and. . ._ _this was your miracle_. remained unsaid, because to be honest the teenager wasn't sure how much of a miracle it really was, and that thought was even more disturbing than the thought that he had almost lost him.

Reno closed his eyes, dropping into thought. He himself did not know the full taint that had been fed into his body, that would soon enough begin to unravel his cells and mutate it, as it had his ancestors, leading to a path that he would be unable to turn from. But that was in the future, and he had no knowledge of that as yet. All he knew was that he was alive and with new abilities that he would have to learn how to use so he didn't hurt anyone he wasn't supposed to. "I guess I should be grateful, yo, but ta be honest I'm kinda scared, too." The admission normally would have been difficult for the proud and strong Turk, but this was something pretty overwhelming for most anyone to deal with. Even someone of his indomitable will.

"I know you are, Reno. But we're going to get through this. Together. I promise." Not that Cloud had any idea of how they were going to deal with the whole thing. It was all so damn complicated, and the knowledge of the possible consequences made his mind spin. He wouldn't walk away, no way in Hell. He may not be one that made commitments easily, in fact Cloud tended to run from commitment more often than not, but once he'd made one he threw himself into it with his whole being. They were both young, but at the same time, they'd both been through enough to make them more mature than other people their age, which gave Cloud a bit more confidence that they could handle this.

"Promise?" The voice was soft, the fear in it obvious. But Reno had every faith if Cloud promised, that they would indeed get through it. With the reiteration of that promise a smile finally blossomed over the fair skinned face, making the corners of the uptilted eyes crinkle and the freckles show up a bit more. "Then. .if you think so, yo, for you I'll do my best to make the best of this." his eyes began to slip closed again. He was exhausted, and he still had a good amount of healing to do before he was completely recovered.

As Reno drifted back into sleep, and this time a natural one instead of the unconscious state of near death, Cloud strode out to Reno's comrades, a worried look on his face. "He knows what was done to him now. But if I have to be honest. .." He didn't know how to put his nebulous worries into words. Any number of things could go wrong, and some of them no one even knew. "I don't want anything to happen to him, Director. He deserves better than that."

Verdot nodded. "We are going to get him through this process, Cloud. You made a promise to that young man, and we're going to be certain you are able to keep it." He squeezed Cloud's shoulder. "You go back and rest. It's best you do so now, while he's sleeping. You will need all the rest that you can get to deal with the days that are to come."

Cloud just nodded and walked back toward his quarters. He knew Verdot was right, and that the coming days were going to be hard enough that he would need the rest he would get now.

* * *

It was a week before Reno had healed enough to even attempt physical therapy, and when he was able to get into the shower the first time the first thing he did was look in a mirror. "Man, an' I thought my eyes were bright after the mako injection I got when I was first recruited. Shit went all out, yo." He'd also noticed the faint green pigmentation around his pupils, though he figured it wasn't that big a deal. A few cosmetic alterations for the chance to live and continue doing a job that had afforded him a family full of people who did all they could to protect him? He'd take them, no problem.

The hot water felt like heaven dropping down over his back, plastering his hair to his face and washing the adhesive from the IVs off of his skin. Being clean felt almost like a luxury now with how long he'd been hooked up to the machines that had been keeping him alive. The slender male had to grip tightly onto the bars in the shower stall to stay on his feet to do it, and to sit on the bench inside to wash his hair, but Reno was too proud not to at least attempt to clean himself up without any help. He'd come this far, he wasn't about to allow himself to be so helpless as to not be able to take care of his own needs without assistance.

Cloud just shook his head with a chuckle as the Turk he loved struggled his way into the bathroom, managing to use the toilet, get himself clean, and slide into the black fluffy terry cloth robe that had been brought from his quarters for him. As the other man leaned his head back, the blond trooper ran the brush that had also been brought through the crimson hair he'd come to adore, the soft smile that graced his face when he was truly relaxed and at peace lifting up his lips at the purring noise that it got from the one on the receiving end.

"Stubborn." The word held an affectionate tone. It was rare that Cloud let his guard down this far, but he was alone with the man he loved. "You know, General Sephiroth said he'd help you learn how to channel the strength from the enhancements, if you need it." Cloud's voice took on the reverent tone of the boy that had idolized the General enough to come to ShinRa and strive to excel and become a SOLDIER before Zack and Reno had helped the normally shy and withdrawn young man come into his own.

"Really?" Reno spoke in that drawling tone that was accompanied by a playful smirk. The chance to be taught by the greatest General ShinRa had ever produced, and on top of that he could tease the heck out of the guy and Sephiroth wouldn't be allowed to hurt him for it? That was something there was no way he could pass up. Of course he knew the man was dealing with enough with his two best friends missing, Genesis had disappeared in Wutai, and Angeal had soon followed him, and they had been assumed killed in action. Something told Reno that it wasn't true, though. That there was something dirty going on not even the Turks were fully privy to.

"Yeah." Cloud nodded, but his expression grew firm. "Don't torment him too much. He's going through a lot." He knew that expression well enough, it normally meant Reno was thinking of something that was going to get him in trouble. But the man's spirit had always been infectious, just as Tifa's had been when he'd been a child back in Nibelheim. _I wanted to impress her, I wanted to be good enough for her, and the funny thing is. . .now, here, with Zack for a best friend and Reno wanting nothing more than for me to be all that he knows I can be, I'm realizing it wasn't her I needed to impress so badly, but myself_.

That thought brought that tiny wistful uplifting of his lips to his face again as he finished brushing out the scarlet locks and tied them back. "There. The physical therapist will be here soon. You hungry?"

A growl from the slim belly was the response to that question as Reno let out a soft laugh of his own. "I think my stomach's speakin' for itself on that one, yo." He was been on IV nutrition for almost two weeks, he'd almost forgotten what real food was like. "Prob'ly should try somethin' mild an' not too spicy, though." The last thing the redhead wanted to do was embarrass himself by throwing back up his first meal in two weeks. That would be something he would never be able to completely live down. _Not that I haven't before, but that was 'cause I was drunk. Bein' hung over ain't quite so bad_. Of course that thought made him snort simply due to the fact that he was trying to justify himself.

As if his mind had been read, Rude came in with a container of clam chowder from one of he and Reno's favorite restaurants "I figured you could use something solid now that they've finally taken you off the IVs." he passed his partner the container. He didn't want to tell Reno that he'd been kept busy with Genesis copies attacking all of the major cities, just as the other Turks had been. They had all done as much as they could to shield their comrade from knowing just _how bad_ things were, as all of them knew that if he knew he'd push himself too hard in an attempt to get out there to help fellow Turks when he needed to be focusing on recovering the rest of the way.

Reno popped the lid and took a deep inhale, closing his eyes as he relished the scent that wafted up to him. "You're too damn good to me, partner." he said appreciatively as he took the spoon and dug in, gorging as he'd been wont to do whenever there was food around. It took all of five minutes for him to rake the wonderful creamy broth that was redolent of clams and garlic and pepper and just a sprinkling of cheese into the bottomless pit he called a stomach and set the container back down. "Ya know. ..I know I'm not supposed ta be thinkin' of work an' all, but somethin' about this situation with the Generals just don't sit right with me. I just don't know why yet."

Rude took the container and threw it into the trash can, giving Reno a sharp look from behind his ever present sunglasses. "That's right, you aren't. But. . .it doesn't me either." And that was all the bald man would say on the matter. He had no intention of encouraging his overly inquisitive partner to investigate this when he had other things that he had to deal with.

"You worry about you for right now, Reno." Cloud reinforced the statement from Rude with a firm admonition of his own. "You can help with the rest once you've recovered. " The look those sky blue eyes held also said that Reno was not to push himself to recover, that he was to take all of the time that was necessary. Though he, like Reno and Rude, had an odd feeling that things were being hidden from them.

* * *

Hojo kept watch from a monitor in the lab, hawk like eyes taking in every nuance as the half Cetra boy that had been given the SOLDIER regimen began to recover. _He's done even better than I expected him to_. The thought made the scientist smirk. _He has a strong constitution, and a stronger will to live than anyone I have ever subjected to it. This may very well be the breakthrough I've been seeking_.

He would need to get a blood sample to see how well the cells had bounded with the young man's molecular structure, but from everything he could see, things were going just as he had planned. _Soon, the calling will come. . and he will lead us to a land of mako stores such as mankind has never seen before. The President will reward me for my find, and then. . .he will fall, and Scarlet and I shall take his place and reap all of the benefits of what we have done. I will not allow the fat fool to take it from me. _

Of course he would have to eliminate Scarlet as well, eventually, when she had outlived her usefulness, but that would be dealt with when the time came. It wasn't time for that as yet. _She's as much a fool as the President, but at least she has some use. . .for now_.

* * *

"Zack, I know you are worried about your mentor, but I am not certain what else can be done, aside from looking for him, as I have promised you that I would." Tseng stood with his arms folded in front of him in his typical attentive posture, dark eyes solemn. "There is much going on, a great deal of it hidden even from we Turks. I promised you that I would do as I can to help, and I still intend to keep that promise. But patience is called for."

The raven haired SOLDIER who had just been promoted to First when his mentor had deserted nodded, but the gleaming eyes spoke clearly of his own disappointment. "You've never let me down yet, Tseng, and you've protected by buddy's boy. I can't thank you enough for that, but Angeal. . .he means the world to me. Just. . .if you can, find him."

Tseng nodded. "I will do my best. In the meanwhile, Director Lazard wished to see you. " He had his suspicions about why. Lazard suspected corruption as much as his own men did, and had a wish to try to put an end to it. Nothing Tseng could help in, he was as trapped in the wheel as the rest of his men were, especially when he had his own to protect. He watched as Zack walked off toward the elevator and shook his head.

_I don't like the direction any of this is headed. I don't trust the President, I don't think any of us do, but he is unfortunately the one in control and we've no choice but to obey him. _Slanted dark eyes closed as Tseng rubbed the tillek between them, the whole complicated situation was enough to give him a headache, and he was trying not to get too deep into it because there was little he could do to change it. At least not without some help.

Help he hoped to have once this mission that Zack was being sent on was completed. He himself would be sent as well, he hoped that the soon to be promoted SOLDIER would uncover something that would be of use to putting an end to whatever was going on. _wheels have been set into motion that will be difficult to turn from their path if something is not done soon to do so_.

With that thought in mind, he walked toward the elevator himself and hit the button to head to Director Lazard's office so they could get things underway.

* * *

Sweat dripped down a pale brow as slender legs trembled under their own weight. Reno was working himself hard under the physiotherapist's direction and though he did not realize it his eyes would blaze and his pupils would narrow into slits with the effort as the work caused the mako tainted with Jenova's cells to bond even more tightly with his own. Still, he managed to walk the entire way between the parallel bars on his own, causing him to grin in triumph. "It's only been two weeks an' I'm already comin' this far. I'll be walkin', then runnin' an' fightin' again in no time if I keep up this pace."

"You're coming along really well." Cloud confirmed, as he peered back at the silver haired figure that stood watching from the hallway. He could see the inscrutable expression on the General's features as he watched the session, and wondered just what he was thinking.

_If this recovery keeps up, I might be able to enlist the boy in helping me find Genesis and Angeal. If I can find them before the army does, it's possible I might be able to save them. I owe them this much, after all that they have put up with from me_. Sephiroth's emerald gaze kept close watch on the Turk's progress. He knew better than anyone how the doses of Mako that SOLDIER were subjected to and Jenova cells increased a person's strength, endurance, and speed. And as a Turk, ShinRa would not have the same expectations of him as they would of SOLDIER, he'd be able to move with impunity as a SOLDIER would not be able. _I do not want to press him too hard, he is after all Zack's friend, but he may be useful, should he recover quickly enough._

Once the therapy session was over, and Cloud had gone to get him a towel to clean up, Sephiroth approached him. "I may have a job for you, once you've regained your strength." he told Reno. "I am certain you have sensed, as I have, that things are not completely right with this company." he had made certain there were no listening devices before he asked that question, and helped the red haired Turk over to an area where he knew they would have privacy.

"Yeah?" To be honest Reno was itching to get up and be moving again. He had no idea what was already beginning to happen on a molecular level, even as he was growing stronger his genetic structure was beginning to be unraveled and soon there would be very little of him left. He was, however, for the moment more than willing to hear the General out. After all, the guy had _volunteered_ to help him out, he figured it was the least he could do.

"Your friend Zack is being sent on a mission into Banora soon, to track down the missing Generals. As you know, they are my friends." Not much more needed to be said as to Sephiroth's feelings in that regard, he knew Reno knew well about loyalty to friends and what that entailed. "Things are likely to heat up soon, and I suspect that you, as I do, know that things are not entirely kosher in this company. And that you are not liking the fact any more than the rest of us, but feel helpless to do anything to change it."

Reno's teal eyes widened as Sephiroth's brilliant green seemed to penetrate his with a stare that said he could read his every thought. He said in a tone almost of reticence that clearly indicated he was reluctant to speak his thoughts on the matter but did so because he couldn't not do so. "Yeah. I mean, ya know we Turks are good at knowin' when someone is bullshittin' us, an' that not even we know the full extent of what's goin' on with Genesis an' Angeal. . .it says someone's runnin' scared. I just haven't figured out who yet."

"That is what I want you to find out. . .once you are able to do so. As a Turk, there are places you have access to that SOLDIER does not. Not even a General such as myself. And with the enhancements that you have been gifted with, you will be able to defend yourself with greater ease than your comrades. " The deep voice gave Reno as much information in its tone as Sephiroth could do, knowing the man was good at reading between the lines.

The redhead's expression went thoughtful. "They said the two were killed in action, but Zack don't think they were, an' neither do I. I dunno, it's almost like they know things that ShinRa don't want gettin' out, but I got no idea what. I mean, I know a lot of things that this company has done that aren't too great, but I always believed they weren't innately bad, ya know? Now, I ain't so sure about that anymore."

"Nor am I. I need you to finish recovering. We have a great deal of work ahead of us." And Sepihiroth turned and swept out, as if nothing at all untoward had been spoken as he strode out the door with sure and steady steps and no fear at all in his countenance, silver hair being lifted in the wind of his passing as he went.

* * *

Another week passed, and Reno's strength had begun to recoup by leaps and bounds. By the third day he was walking without assistance, by the fourth he was running, and by the fifth he could fight without too much stiffness or being winded. When he managed to hit Cloud hard enough to knock him over onto his back it became obvious that the enhancements had taken even more spectacularly than even Professor Hojo had expected. He was fast enough to keep up with a guard hound, strong enough to defend himself against a Third Class with little problem, and his mental acuity had also grown to the point that he very nearly had an eidetic memory.

It would soon be time to train with the General, but Reno suspected it would be more than training. It would be preparation for the upcoming mission as well. As he helped Cloud to his feet after their sparring session he closed his lips over the blond's, not caring one bit if someone saw them. "I feel great, babe. I don't think I have ever felt better in my entire life, never stronger." he met Cloud's sky blue, though, his own gaze intense. "I'm just really glad to be alive."

He'd done all that he could to shove the memory of the accident out of his mind. He didn't like to think about how close he had come to dying, so he focused instead on the gift he had been given of this second chance. "I wanna go somewhere with you." he purred, burying his face in Cloud's hair. "I wanna remember our first time, relive it, an' make it even better."

Cloud flushed. He was a private young man normally, but the heat that gathered at the redhead's words in the pit of his stomach making itself known in the tightening fabric of his pants that began to cling almost uncomfortably to a certain portion of his anatomy. He let out a hitching groan as he met his lover's eyes. "Not here." he told him in a warning tone, taking Reno's hands and letting the other lead him out of the building.

"I know just where to go." Reno told Cloud in a heated tone. "Just trust me." A smile, and he lead him toward an area in the slums that no one would look for them in. His hands gripped Cloud's as they entered Sector Six, then into Wall Market, the tiny inn near the bar with the sign lit almost seeming to call to them.

Once Reno had paid for the room he lead Cloud inside, closing the door as the navy blue fabric of the jacket to his uniform made a rustling sound as it hit the floor, fingers working at the buttons on the white dress shirt until it too followed the jacket to the floor. A reached up to let loose the ponytail holder as well, allowing the red ribbon of hair to fall to the small of his back in waves.

The air seemed to escape the blond trooper's lungs as the fair skinned body was bared to his sight, the firm musculature, though whipcord lean, was perfectly cut, not an ounce of extra fat. There were scars, to be certain, and one that immediately caught Cloud's attention, a round pucker in the center of the redhead's chest. He remembered well when the injury that had caused that scar occurred, and how afraid he'd been of losing the infectiously vital young man that had become his lover shortly after.

_That was when I knew. . .I had to make him mine_. Cloud thought, a smile coming to his face as Reno laid himself out on the bed like an offering, the grin that normally curved the man's mouth becoming an open and genuine smile instead as the gleaming eyes grew even brighter when arousal filled them. He gave a faint swallow as he strode toward the bed, trying to act more confident than he felt.

"Take me, yo." The tone was low, teasing, lust filling it as the slim, coltish legs that had far more kicking power than they rightfully should spread wide, exposing the diamond stud in the tip of the eight inch long shaft and the ladder like series of white gold studs along the bottom. "I wanna see what this body can do now, and you're just so good at makin' me feel." He called to that strong and domineering side of his normally shy lover, the smile becoming a grin. _I fucking love this man_. was the thought that ran through his mind as the cadet climbed up onto the bed.

"Ungh!" Reno's head tilted back as pleasure stormed through his nerves, his fingers gripping the blond spikes while Cloud's mouth enclosed the throbbing, twitching length in wet heat, making his nerves tingle and his body tremble. His breathing went deep and harsh, almost panting, sweat blossoming over the pale forehead as his mind was swamped under the wave of bliss that washed up and over it. "Cloud!" he shouted legs spreading further still.

The slim back arched, muscles locking and shivering as he fought the urge to let loose in his lover's mouth. Too soon. Far too soon. "Fuck me." he begged. "Oh Gods, just fuck me!" the words were a plea, breath coming in short panting gasps as his arms reached out, wanting contact with Cloud, wanting to feel him, to touch him, to kiss him.

Cloud's slim fingers walked their way up one of Reno's thighs, finding the round pucker between the firm cheeks, one slipping in with an unresisting ease that earned a faint growling grown from the man whose legs he knelt between. The sounds he was earning made his own breath hitch in his throat, a groan sounding as he stretched the Turk enough that he was well prepared, sliding into him like a bullet into a chamber.

Reno's voice rose in another shout as he was entered, the sensation that sang through his body being pushed higher still and his arms wrapped tightly around the cadet's back, his eyes closing as a flush spread across the pale cheeks. "Shit." he moaned out, the feeling almost too much to bear, but Reno was discovering another thing about the enhancements. It increased his endurance, making the pleasure last longer.

His entire body felt like electricity was racing through it, making muscles tremble and body tense, his hair sticking to his back with the sweat of his exertion. "Fuck, Cloud. . .fuck." he chanted the words, wanting this to last forever. "I love you." the words were murmured, into the shell of one pale ear, teeth scoring the fair flesh.

Cloud's heart rose as he heard those three words, absorbing them, and the adoring tone in which they were spoken. with a smile that lit up his whole face. They were words he would treasure for the rest of his life, as he knew how very rarely Reno opened himself all the way up with how he felt in that way. "I love you too." he responded softly, picking up the pace and following the sounds to know what felt best to the Turk. Need filled him, making his entire body shiver.

The flood spread out from between the slender legs, through the pit out of Reno's belly and out through his entire body, growing in intensity until it felt like flames ready to lick up and consume him whole. It flashed higher, and suddenly like a conflagration it swept over him, his entire body tensing as spilled from the twitching cock, and when it finished he gripped Cloud tight, encouraging him. "Follow me, babe. I can feel how close you are. . .follow me."

Cloud's own body felt as if it was on fire as he continued to drive hard into his lover, and he groaned out loud and long. He was close, blood seeming to boil in his veins as his own pleasure overflowed within him, cresting like the ocean. "Reno. Oh sweet Gods." he growled as his seed flowed out of him and into the clenching passageway of this man he loved more deeply than his own life.

He was still shuddering as he pulled the red haired male into his arms. Sleep was fast beginning to overcome them both, but it was all right. No one knew they were here, Reno didn't have to be back to HQ until lunchtime tomorrow, and Cloud was off, so he was free to stay here in his love's arms the whole night, fraternization rules be damned. As he drifted off, the only word to slip from his mouth was one that he knew Reno would easily hear and appreciate, considering how few people had been willing to make such a promise to him. "Forever."

That made Reno smile as a hand reached to grip the blond cadet's in a hold that would not let go the entire night through. He returned the vow, in a tony almost of extreme reverence. "Forever." The aquamarine eyes slid all the closed, a dreamless darkness overcoming his senses.

_Soon. .. .soon my child, you shall be mine_. The voice whispered deeply in his subconscious quietly enough that Reno just shook it off, figuring he was just hearing things as he was told people did sometimes when on the very edges of sleep.

He had no idea what trouble that voice would cause when everything went down. Or how close the world would come to falling due to the one behind it.

* * *

The sun rose over the horizon, blossoming in shades of orange and purple and yellow and red that bled across the sky in fervent colors. They splashed across the faces of the two entwined lovers, drawing a dismayed sound from the Turk who found himself wide awake and unable to get back to sleep. Reno rolled out of bed, though, looking out the window and watching the rest of the dawn, treasuring it as he'd gotten to see so few living down in the slums as he had his whole life, only getting to when he'd been here in Sector Six where there was no plate shadowing the village below. "beautiful."

The motion woke Cloud as well, and he climbed out of the bed, wrapping his arms around Reno. "You didn't get to see many of these growing up, huh?" he asked his lover, just enjoying the feel and the scent of him. Cloud, growing up in the mountain village of Nibelheim, had eventually begun to take things like clean air and sunrises and sunsets for granted. To see the wonder with which someone else greeted one was an amazing thing to the young man from the mountains.

"I didn't, yo. Grew up under the plates in Sector Seven. Never saw the sun except when I came here. . .never felt the wind, or the rain. . .just gray steel over my head all the time." It had been a dreary existence, and he knew how much he owed Tseng for giving him a chance, for getting him out of that life. "Was a fuckin' hard life, most of us kids from the slums learned early how ta fend for themselves 'cause if you didn't ya didn't live long." he just shook his head, tossing away those thoughts of times that were now gone, just far too close in memory for his comfort.

"But that's all over now." Cloud murmured as he buried his head in the scarlet tresses. "and I'll never let you fall that far again." The vow, one made with his entire heart. When he loved, he loved deeply and with a conviction that few had.

_This love scares me sometimes, yo. He loves me so damn much, an' I know I don't always deserve it. I'm afraid of hurtin' him. . .but more I'm afraid of losin' myself in it, but I'd never tell him that. _Reno leaned his head back, kissing Cloud deeply as he gave him a smile. "Ya know. ..maybe we should go get some breakfast before headin' back. The diner here has fantastic omelets."

"Breakfast sounds good." Cloud responded as he rested his face on Reno's back. Though if he had to tell the truth, he was reluctant to go back to ShinRa, so anything that delayed that return sounded good to him. There was something moving in the shadows, something that disturbed him, and the feeling was one he couldn't shake.


	2. Chapter 2

As the two traipsed back in just before noon, Sephiroth noted the tense posture of his soon to be student's body, the way the blue-green eyes seemed to almost be shuttered, as if his spirit was drawn deeply inward. It was a look he knew well, for he'd worn it many a time himself. "You have not actually done much fighting since the enhancements were performed, so I think our first order of business should be a sparring match."

Reno's grin was wide. "A sparrin' match? Against you, yo? Aren't you afraid you might hurt me?" The redhead's confidence was almost infectious as he lifted the rod that was normally strapped to his arm, releasing the strap and settling the electrified nightstick into the palm of his left hand. He dropped into a fighting stance, long legs apart, a challenge in the glowing eyes.

The silver haired General's mouth quirked in an expression very similar. "I think you can. . .. hold your own." Sephiroth too took a fighting stance, Masamune held in front of him. "Come and get me." he taunted, a grin on his face. He'd seen, even unenhanced, how the redhead could move, and he was looking forward to a match against someone who might have a chance of coming close to matching him. The Turk's speed against Serphiroth's natural strength and skill with a blade, the thought raised the General's feral instincts to a roar.

Reno let out a loud, ringing battle cry as he launched himself at Sephiroth, battle lust ringing through his blood like a fine wine. The metal tip of the magrod made a clanging sound as it clashed against the steel of Sephiroth's blade, the electricity running up the hardened alloy and into the SOLDIER's arm. Lightning was Reno's natural element, just as fire had been Genesis', and he wielded it well. He watched the hologram of the canon spring up around them, he had no idea how symbolic this was for the SOLDIER who'd chosen it.

Sephiroth grunted at the current that flowed through his body due to the initial attack from the Turk, that smirk growing wider still. Those abilities were untrained, raw, and the boy didn't have the control that Sephiroth himself did, but the young one's strength was extraordinary, greater that someone so slender and small should rightfully be able to develop. "You're good." he had to admit as the two weapons held and entwined. "But for now-" one leather clad arm pushed back, silver hair brushing over the black coat as the force almost caused Reno to lose his footing, but the redhead used it to flip backward and land on them again like a cat "I'm better."

"Oh, but for how long, yo?" Reno taunted in return, as a sudden power rose up inside of him, and he raised a hand, clenching it into a fist, electricity dancing around it as he called out "Bolt 3!" and launched the spell at his sparring partner. He had not yet even realized he'd cast without having a Lightning materia equipped.

Sephiroth dodged the initial casting of the spell easily enough, but made a noise of surprise as the balls of electricity circled back around, much like the fire spells his friend had so excelled at, and whipped into his chest at a high rate of speed, flinging him backward against the wall like a rag doll. "You've been watching General Rhapsodos, haven't you?" the question was accompanied by a quirked brow. "That's one of his techniques."

Reno shrugged. "I mighta. . .watched a surveillance tape or two. S'a neat trick. I've always wanted to be able to, but I never was able to before this. Probably somethin' to do with the treatments used to save my life increasin' my speed an' ability to cast, but dunno. An' don't care." the shrug became a smug expression. "So, you were right. I can hold my own." he reached down a hand to help Sephiroth back to his feet. His heart was pounding against his ribs and all he could think was _Holy fucking shit, I knocked down Sephiroth! I fucking knocked down Sephiroth! Take that, Stepfather of mine who thought I wouldn't be good for anything_.

The brief, bitter recollection of his stepfather made his pupils narrow to slits and his eyes flash green a moment, the rage triggering a surge of Jenova's power to course through his bloodstream that caused the fleeting changes. He shoved the thoughts back down into the pit from whence they had come as a leather gloved hand gripped his and he lifted Sephiroth to his feet.

Sephiroth had noted the changes, but he didn't make much of them. He had, after all, seen his own eyes when he became angered enough, once he was calmed they returned to normal. So it wasn't like it was anything for him to really worry about. "Never trust an enemy." he intoned, before thrusting a hand out and shoving, hard, slamming the redhead into the wall behind him and holding him there one handed.

"Ok, so you're good." Reno purred out the words as he wiggled like a fish on a hook, his innate agility and flexibility finally getting him out from under the man's grip. He breathed heavily as he caught his breath, but his expression said he'd enjoyed the workout far more than he should have. He pushed sweat soaked bangs back out of his face before holding a hand out to Sephiroth. "Good fight, yo. Glad you don't fight dirty, usually. Cissnei whooped my ass with that shit because she does fight dirty and ain't in the least bit ashamed of it."

"Go on, get a shower. I have a few things to attend, and I believe a certain trooper is waiting for you to get some lunch." The General's expression held a bit of warmth when he thought Reno couldn't see it. The boy reminded him quite a bit of the recently promoted First Class that had ended up being dubbed The Puppy by nearly everyone who knew him. _Now let's see if I can hone him into something worthwhile_.

* * *

"It comes along nicely." Hojo smirked as Scarlet came to see how things were going, the woman becoming anxious because the Turks were beginning to get suspicious and if they figured it out she'd be the first one to fall. "Do not worry yourself so, Director Scarlet. By the time they figure out what is happening it will already be far too late. " he promised her. "The boy grows stronger every day. If I were to hazard a guess I would believe that the calling has already begun and he does not even realize it yet. Soon, though. ..soon it will grow too strong for him to ignore." Pearl white teeth gleamed in the dim light of the lab as the scientist reassured his partner in crime.

"You better hope they don't." Scarlet's words were sharp and almost bitten off through a clenched jaw as she turned and walked off, heels clacking off into the distance as she left the lab. If she got caught there, it would raise their suspicions more and she could ill afford that. _Just thank God Heidegger is stupid when the Turks are not. The last thing I need is him breathing down my neck too._

* * *

As Cloud talked to Zack after their training session his face held a concerned look. "I know I'm probably just worried for nothing, Zack, but what I saw when he was sparring with General Sephiroth.. . .his eyes turned green and his pupils looked like a cat's. But more. . .the look on his face. It wasn't just a playful spar, Zack, he was deadly serious. What's going to happen when he's stronger? I want to believe that things won't go bad, but that look on his face was just scary."

"Cloud, I doubt it's anything to worry about, man." The dark haired SOLDIER set a hand on his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. "Reno is Reno. He's a mischief maker and a smartass, and he's a trained assassin. And a spar with _Sephiroth_? Of course he's going to be deadly serious, Hell, how often does someone get a chance at that? Especially someone who isn't SOLDIER. I guarantee you, my friend, things are gonna be just fine."

Cloud sighed, dropping his head and trying to forget what he had seen. "I just hope you're right, Zack. I really, really hope you're right." The last thing he wanted to see was something happen to the man that he loved. _He's dealt with enough as it is, he doesn't need any more crap landed in his life. _ He forced a smile onto his face, though, as he waved good bye to his friend. He was taking Reno out for dinner and he had to get himself cleaned up before he went.

Zack just watched his friend head for the locker room, and made a vow that he'd watch out for Reno as time passed. He cared about both he and Cloud. _I still have that feeling that something is off, though. Just don't know what yet._

The lunchroom was crowded as it often was during that time of the afternoon, it was one of the few times Turks and SOLDIER mingled without any snark happening between the two groups. Cloud couldn't help but shake his head seeing the helmeted figure standing near a wall in the back while waiting for his food. He honestly wondered how Kunsel ate, he'd never seen the man without his helmet for the entire time he'd been a Third Class.

He smiled at Reno who had picked up a tray and settled easily into a seat and began to eat almost ravenously. Something that did not get any looks from the SOLDIERS present, they were so accustomed to the way one another ate that it didn't even get noticed when someone did anymore.

Kunsel, however, had noticed, and it made him wonder if the rumors of how the redhead had managed to recover from what should have been fatal injuries were true. The truth had been kept fairly hushed, but of course like any organizations rumors ran rampant, and the SOLDIER had a habit of listening to them wherever he could, filtering fact from fiction. Soon enough he had an answer that was as close to the truth of how things were as one could come in a place like ShinRa.

He picked up his tray and headed back to his room, just smiling at Cloud and Reno as he passed. "Enjoy your lunch." was all he said as he strode past. Though his own sharp eyes noted the tension and the way the redhead's back stiffened. _I wonder what he's hiding?_ he thought to himself. Kunsel had always been good at reading people, and he could tell from Reno's posture that there was something he wanted to hide.

_Just hope it isn't something too bad_. The SOLDIER of course had no idea.

* * *

Reno had headed back to the gym after lunch, wanting to be alone for a bit. The voice he had heard earlier in his mind didn't really disturb him too much as he'd had them in his head since he was a young boy, it was a part of the heritage he'd never been able to fully forget, though sometimes he wished he could. But this one had left him chilled, down to the very depths of his soul, oily and persuasive as one of those used car salesmen that his mother had complained about when he'd been young. Convincing, with promises of unattainable dreams. _I don't know what ta tell Cloud. I mean, he knows what I am, I trusted him with that, but this just feels different, it disturbs the fuck outta me _The odd feeling is what had made him draw deeply in. He didn't have the training his cousin did in how to use his bloodline's abilities, and he couldn't risk going to see her, he knew that she would be watched. _I could have Tseng take her a message, though, maybe. Hopefully it's enough_.

_Come to me_. The voice sounded again. _You shall never want for strength again. Never will you be that child sitting in the street as you hold the body of someone you love while their life drains away . You will be strong enough to hold onto everything you hold dear_. Reno closed his eyes, trying to push it out of his mind.

He roared, and punched the mirror, the glass raining down into the sink as Reno fought to keep his mind his own. His breathing was harsh and ragged and blood dripped down into the sink from his cut up hands. The rage stirred in his veins, making him shudder with it. _Where did it come from, yo? Why am I feelin' like this? I just don't understand it_.

Finally, a deep breath to calm his pounding heart and he was mostly able to think again, to bury the anger in a way that he could function. By the time Cloud had come to see him he had calmed, managing to bring all of the foreign emotions under some form of control again. He was able to turn to the blond with a smile on his face, hug him, and look truly happy to see him.

"Missed you babe." he told the blond, kissing him and putting the voices out of his mind entirely.

* * *

Zack sighed, sitting down next to the flower bed near the church. "I'm worried, Aerith." he told the young lady in the sundress with the braid down her back who was tending the flowers. "Reno's just been acting so odd. He 's been as tense as a Chocobo in a Zolom's den lately, The guy's my friend, I don't wanna see anything happen to him."

At the mention of the name Aerith stiffened a moment, but other than that gave no sign that she had reacted. That was her cousin, though very few knew it, and she was as extraordinarily protective of him as Tseng tended to be of her. The talk of strange behavior set her ill at ease, especially with the dreams she'd been having. Dreams she now was certain were prophetic in nature.

"If you're worried about him, the best thing to do is watch over him, keep him safe, and keep him happy, right?" A soft giggle accompanied the words. The Half Cetra girl was smiling and laughing, as much as she possibly could be, "I know you can do that, Zack. You're good at making people smile. You've always made me smile, anyway."

That made Zack grin. "You're right, Aerith. Keep him from being stressed, he'll be ok. Angeal would want me to keep an eye on a friend, it's the honorable thing to do." He wished he felt as confident as he sounded, but his girlfriend had always had a way of making everything seem less dire. The cheery smile, the way she tended her flowers, and how she was always so strong under the smiles and the laughter. It inspired him. "Say, why don't I take you out for that date I owe you before I have to get back?"

He didn't want to tell Aerith he was going to be sent away again soon. This time to Banora, his mentor's home town, and he simply had an awful, awful feeling about the whole thing, even if he didn't want to admit it. Tseng had to have reason for them to go there other than the fact that it was their home time and he felt as if Genesis might go there. They'd been searching for the SOLDIER, trying to stop the destruction that his copies had wreaked everywhere.

Zack had seen some of it first hand, at work at ShinRa, in the slums, and even in the tower itself. It was horribly messy and complicated to deal with the damage that got done."Do me a favor, Aerith? If Tseng comes to see you. . .give him a message for me? Tell him to make sure Red stays safe for me. I might not see him before you do and I wanna make sure someone's keeping an eye on him." He had begun working on her wagon, the manual labor helped get his mind off his troubles.

"The wagon's coming along good, Zack." Aerith complimented with a giggle and a smile, the supplies scattered over the floor of the church made walking a bit difficult, but spending time with Zack to build the flower wagon was something she was enjoying too much to really mind. _I have to admit. When I met him I wasn't sure if I would like him, but then I got to know him better, and now I can't see my life without him at all._

"Yeah, well I try." Zack, too, was enjoying this time here in the church with her. She gave him the same feeling of happiness his two best friends did. "Come on, I'll go take you and buy the ribbon you were looking at for you." He lifted her to her feet and lead her out toward the shops. The streets were filled with the hustle and bustle of people buying the things they needed, food, supplies to mend their clothing, and other various items. The bustling marketplace seemed to brighten Aerith's mood considerably.

He exchanged a few pleasantries with the vendor selling the ribbons, and stepped behind Aerith, tying the ribbon at the bottom of her braid. "There, all done." he told her. It would be the last time he would get to spend time with her like this, though he didn't realize it yet. Things would begin to roll downhill and fast once he made the trip to Banora.

Aerith could sense the lifestream stirring, but she couldn't make out what the voices were trying to tell her. Not yet. Reading the will of the planet was a difficult thing even for the most skilled of her people, and Aerith was unskilled and inexperienced, though she tried her best to follow what it asked. Even when it was hard to know what that was. _Minerva protect my cousin. He treads a dangerous path now, and I don't know where it will lead him yet. I only pray it does not lead him to a place where those who love him cannot follow. _

Her expression fell a bit at that thought before she made her face go placid again and turned to look at Zack. "I just want you to promise me one thing."

"Yeah?" Zack wasn't asked for promises often, and he tried to keep them if he did actually make them.

"Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise."

* * *

The next day brought a mission, one into the downtown sections of Midgar and Reno if he had to be honest was thrilled to be working again after spending two weeks bedridden and then another week stuck inside the tower learning how to harness his new strength and speed. "Be cautious." Rude warned him. "There have been Genesis Copies spotted in the area, and though I know you can handle yourself, it's still called for."

"Yeah, yeah." Reno waved Rude off with the expression of glee that said he felt he was more than capable of handling himself and not to worry so much. "Don't be so uptight, partner, I got this." The words were spoken in the cocky tone of a man who was sure of himself, and it made Rude eye roll. Not that Reno noticed it.

As Zack came into the area, Reno grinned at him, holding out his emr, a teasing glint dancing in his eyes. "Yo, slick, this is Turk's territory." as Cissnei proved that the shurikan wielding Turk could indeed handle herself. He eye rolled as Zack starting flirting with Cissnei a bit before dashing up the stairs into Loveless Square, heading off to finish off his assignment.

Zack just shook his head with a soft inner chuckle. He knew what his best friend was like, and that on the job was on the job, and maintaining the distance between their departments while on the clock was important. The twinkling in his eye and the teasing way it was done never ceased to alternately annoy and amuse the young First Class.

The loud war cry rang across the square as Reno dove into an entire crowd of copies, emr lashing out on all sides in what seemed an almost impenetrable barrier, the slender body moving in a blur as if hasted, electricity dragging in an arc around him, the bodies of the copies twitching as it sank into them and flashed along their nerves. They flopped back onto their backs like fish, Reno grinning like a lunatic as his skills were very clearly showcased.

But the cocky expression left the mobile, fox like face as he saw that his partner was in trouble, the slender figure running fast to reach the bald man as he engaged the copy that had gone from hand to hand to trying to stab Rude. That simply would not at all do. He shocked the creature hard, mouth drawn into a growling snarl as he got to the ground, not even feeling as the thing's sword slashed across his side when it fell. He'd been too angry.

"You saved my life." Rude said. "Not that I ever doubted you." a smirk danced across bearded lips as he realized that not only was he alive, he was uninjured. And the speed at which his partner had moved had been amazing, as the Costan played events back in his head. Then the scent of copper began to enter his senses, and he looked down to see the slash across Reno's side. "Hey, partner. . . .you're bleeding."

Reno just glanced down at his side as if it didn't really matter. "Yeah. . guess I am." he poked at it as if it was no more serious than having cut himself shaving. "It's not that deep, get back to the tower and heal it and I'll be fine." he insisted, shrugging, Though with the breaking of the skin, the process of the slow degradation grew exponentially faster, now unstoppable.

* * *

An older man that appeared to be in his early thirties had been sitting in his office tinkering with several robotic cats, another wandering back in and crawling up onto his desk. "I've got the files you asked for, sir." The accent the cat bore was a deep brogue, and it made Reeve Tuetsi smile every time. He took the folder and gave the bot a tender expression as he flipped through it. These robots were the closest thing he had left to family aside from his mother that he never had a chance to see anymore.

These were records, most of them, filched from Hojo's laboratory. Reeve had done this as a favor because Tseng had asked him to, but he would have done it anyway. Aerith was someone he had a great deal of respect for due to the way she comported herself, and Reno? Well, Reeve had a soft spot for the kid. Intelligent, tough as nails, but the engineer had always been able to sense a gentleness and sensitivity under that exterior. The last thing he wanted to see was for that light to end up being snuffed out.

Most of it was scientific notation that would take him a while to decipher, but Reeve was nothing if not determined. He would figure out just what was in those injections, and make sure that strengthening the one subjected to it was all it did.

Because with the rumors of SOLDIER being lost with the deserters, everyone that had dealings with the bright young Turk was worried that he very well might be next. _Not on my watch_. The vow was made, then and there. _Tseng is one of the few that I respect enough to go above and beyond the call for. I'm not going to fail him by letting that young man fall_.

* * *

Upon his return Reno poked at the wound again. He'd healed it, and it had sealed loosely closed, but he was beginning to worry just a bit because it still oozed blood periodically. Not enough to be any true danger, but enough to be bothersome. _I better make sure this is covered up before Cloud comes to see me. He'll worry, an' the last thing I need is for him to be fussin' over me. _ The redhead bandaged it, climbed in the shower to get himself cleaned up, leaning against the wall of the shower.

He was beginning to feel faintly out of breath, though he figured it was just due to how active he'd been that day. His hair was washed, dried, and pulled back into its normal ponytail. By the time Cloud met him for dinner all traces of what had happened earlier that afternoon were gone and he was all smiles and affection.

_Soon, my child_. the voice of darkness that had filled his head since he'd been enhanced whispered. _Soon you shall be mine_. A silver haired figure with gleaming pink eyes would show in his mind's eye along with the voice, sending a child down the red haired Turk's spine. He had no idea who this was, not yet. But he belonged to no one but himself, and if anyone had a problem with that, they could go to Hell so far as he was concerned.

"Reno, are you all right?" Cloud asked him. He'd seen the look on the boy's face when met him for dinner, the distant and almost frightened look, and it worried and scared him, though he was holding himself in check. He couldn't help the creeping concern that something was going to go wrong. Horribly wrong in ways that would upend their entire lives. _I just hope, whatever happens, we both get through it. Losing him. . .I don't even know what I would do._

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, yo." Reno forced a smile onto his face, not letting on disturbed he was. "Let's finish our dinner, yeah?" the aquamarine eyes slipped closed as he took a deep breath, trying to keep himself under some form of calm. He had to stay centered or his lover would start asking questions that he was in no way ready to answer. He turned to his food, and ate without another word, putting all of it out of his mind.

Cloud let it go, after all if he couldn't trust his lover, where was the point in it all? How could he be with someone if he couldn't trust him? "Zack has to leave for Banora soon." he said quietly. "I think Tseng wants you to fly them out, but you'll have to talk to him to see what's going to happen." The discomfort was palpable, soul deep.

"I'm not lookin' forward to the trip to Banora at all, yo." he told Cloud, honestly. "Somethin' about the whole thing bugs me. There's stuff they aren't tellin' us. . .I can sense it but I don't know what lies they are quite yet."

What had been set into motion now could not be stopped, it would be like the rock that rolled downhill and gained speed as it went. Crushing everything in its path and destroying without thought for what might be in the way. Reno could feel in his spirit that there was some great tragic event coming, It was the same feeling he had had the night before his mother had died.

"I'm gonna go get some rest, babe. I gotta be up early to go talk to the boss, an' the last thing I need is to be tired an' not at my best. Both Tseng an Verdot tend to frown on that shit." He shuddered slightly at that, knowing how dealing with them when he was not at his best could be. Verdot was able to come up with some. ..creative. ..punishments for those Turks who failed to be all that they should be while they were on the job. Not his cup of tea at all.

* * *

Morning came far too early for Reno's liking, as his dreams had been invaded by strange images that haunted his mind and had left him shivering in horror. The bodies of his friends torn and bloodied and broken around him, the sky a brilliant red with a giant asteroid being pulled down into the planet's atmosphere, burning embers dropping around it as whirlwinds came down from the sky. He'd woken with eyes wide and sweat dripping down his face as he had tried to shake the images from his mind and had failed,

He stood in the shower, the hot water dripping down his back as he tried to calm himself and push the portents out of his consciousness so that he could fully function to do the job he was going to be sent to do. _Were those visions even real, yo? An' if they were, what the flying fuck do they mean? That shit was just fucked up as Hell, an' I never, ever wanna see anything like it ever again_. Shaking hands drew the long hair back into its customary tail as Reno slipped on the last clean uniform he had. _Gotta do laundry when I get back_. The ordinary, every day thought made him grin a bit, it soothed his mind by making him feel like part of humanity again.

He had noted that the wound still oozed, but it had healed loosely and it wasn't painful, so he shrugged and headed toward Tseng's office. This was not a mission he was in the least looking forward to, but he figured the sooner he got it done the better. "Yo, Boss, m'here." he smirked as he rolled the emr in his hand, then tapped it against his shoulder in the nervous gesture he'd used since he'd trained with the weapon.

"Reno..I need you to do a pre flight check on the helicopter, then we will be going. There are likely to be Genesis copies about, so be careful." The warning was one that Tseng hoped Reno would heed, despite his new found strength and speed the enemies they would face would be nothing to sneeze at at all. "Take what materia you think you may need, it is my understanding from General Sephiroth that you have shown an aptitude with it since the enhancements."

"Yes sir, Boss." the redhead went to obey the order, glad, distantly, that he'd been recognized for his skills. He lifted up his Phoenix summon, kissing the red orb. _This summon has kept me safe for years, an' I can feel you near me when I use it, Momma. I wish you were really here, but being able to feel you close, even like this, I guess is gonna hafta be good enough. _

As the materia dropped back into place Reno walked out toward the craft with a deliberate air, not thinking of what he had seen in his dreams because it would distract him and that was the last thing that he could afford right then. Swift and sure movements made certain the instruments were properly calibrated, the gas tank was full, and any weapons they might need were loaded into it. It took all of about twenty minutes, and it was ready for departure.

* * *

Blue black hair gleamed in the dim lights of the hanger as the Tseng entered, in his suit that was immaculately pressed, making Reno think again of the fact that the man needed to get the stick out of his ass. It didn't take long for him to get the bird started and into the air. That voice that had so bothered him the previous night had become a constant faint whisper in his mind, to the point that he could almost ignore it most of the time.

"Reno. . .did you know you had a gray hair here?" Tseng reached over and brushed a finger over the tiny silvering streak that ran through the crimson bangs. It was almost infinitesimal as yet, but it was a sign of what was beginning to happen within the slim body.

"No, no, I didn't yo. But no time to worry about that right now, we got a mission to finish, yeah?" The last thing Reno wanted to think about was some odd physical symptom that could be stress related as far as he knew. A single strand of gray hair wasn't all that big a deal when he had more important things to deal with.

* * *

The first thing to get Reno's attention other than the young SOLDIER in the back of the helicopter was the fruity smell of the Banora white trees that lined the paths of the tiny village. No one even owned a car, the village was small enough to be able to walk everywhere. But it was gorgeous, and Reno was more than able to appreciate the view. "So this is where Hewley's from, huh?" he peered back at Zack as he asked that.

"Yeah, it is." Zack confirmed. He'd only been here once before, but it had been just as beautiful then as it was this time around. The scent of the apples and the feeling of the breeze that rustled through the trees against his young face something that would be seared against his memory forever.

"It's gorgeous, yo." Reno, unlike Zack, was a city boy at heart, but it didn't mean he didn't like places like this. As they disembarked the chopper he reached up to pick one of the apples, juice dribbling down his chin as bit into it. "Mmmm. . .they're sweet." the turquoise eyes closed in a form of bliss as he licked the juice from his lips, savoring the succulent flavor, a perfect combination of sweet and tart. "Gonna get some of these to take back home." Reveling in the simple pleasures took his mind of the worries that Tseng's declaration prior to their leaving had brought him.

Their orders were to search the village for Angeal's parents. Sephiroth had hope that if they could get Angeal to come back, it might help bring Genesis back to them as well, for as much good as it would do. Reno had his doubts, he knew how stubborn both men were, they would do as they wished no matter what anyone else thought. _Genesis probably wants to burn the world at this point, an' sometimes I wonder why try to stop him. This place has gotten corrupt as Hell, it could use a do over. _

But those thoughts melted away as he saw the look on Zack's face, the hope in those sky blue eyes that he might find his mentor again and possibly be able to bring him home. The redhead was to stay with the chopper while Tseng went with Zack and await further orders. He'd had a feeling that would be the case anyway, but he groaned. It gave him too much time to think to be stuck with the bird, and if there was one thing Reno did not want to do in that moment it was think. _I guess I should be more hopeful that it all turns out ok._ He finally said to himself. _I don't really wanna see a whole lot of death an' destruction,. I just get so jaded sometimes. More'n I think I should be, really, but eh, what can I do? I've seen too much_.

But then he thought of the smile that would likely be on his boyfriend's face when he brought him back a crate of the wonderful apples that grew in the town, and licking the juice that would dribble down his chin off. Cloud always looked so damn good when he smiled. _Better check those thoughts, yo, gettin' hard in the bird while waitn' for Tseng an' Zack to get back would be bad, bad news._ He knew Tseng would frown on that, though the knowledge of how proper the vice director was made him snort. _If I were single I wouldn't mind roughin' the man up an' see what he looked like if he wasn't so damn neat_.

* * *

Zack had found his mentor, bent over the body of his mother, and grief played across the mobile features. "This is your idea of honor, Angeal?" he asked with a growl, beginning to give chase before Genesis appeared, blocking Zack's way, and all he could do is watch while Angeal simply disappeared from sight. "Angeal!"" he called, his voice cracking. . .a tortured tone coming to it as he called out his mentor's name again.

At the same time, the radio in the chopper burst into static, then Tseng's voice came over. "Reno, we've been ordered to eliminate all evidence of ShinRas presence here." his voice held a fair amount of distaste, he knew Reno was not likely to like it either, but there was little he could do. Orders were orders.

"Boss. . ..you can't be serious, yo! We're gonna bomb an entire village over this?" To say Reno was horrified would be an understatement. He wouldn't disobey, orders were orders, he had to obey them whether he liked it or not, but he couldn't do it without questioning. He could easily believe that the President would order such a thing, but it didn't make it any easier.

"I don't like it any more than you do, Reno, but the order came straight from the President himself. Orders are orders." Tseng closed his eyes as he heard the chopper start, the rotors making swishing sounds as they spun up. _I'm sorry, Reno. One so young should not have to do such a thing, but there is no other choice. _

As the bombs fell and the town burned, they swooped to grab Zack but Reno's eyes were desolate and shattered, he could not believe he'd been ordered to do this. His faith in the company was evaporating rapidly as he watched the small village that he had thought was so beautiful in flames. _if this is what being a part of this company is all about, I don't wanna be anymore._ was the last thought in his head as the helicopter lifted away from the ground, the horror breaking his heart into pieces. He could not believe that it had come to this.

"Zack. ... m'sorry, yo. ..m'sorry about. . .all of this." the words were spoken in a shocked and stunned tone, Reno was shaken to his very core by everything that had happened, the only thing he wanted to do now was to get back and curl up in his lover's arms, forget all of it. _Focus, yo. . .just long enough to get back and get this bird on the ground As soon as it is I can just wrap myself in Cloud's arms for a while. _

The rest of the ride was silent, Tseng noting the tense set of his subordinate's shoulders, and the look the young SOLDIER that had accompanied them wore. _all evidence of company misconduct must be erased_. The Wutain repeated those words in his head, as if trying to convince himself that it was real and true. But Tseng himself was beginning to have his own doubts, and he closed his eyes against the looks on the faces of his two friends.

It wasn't something that was right, but there was no way Tseng could change that now. _Forgive me, Minerva, for what I have forced your Child to do. _

* * *

When he returned to the tower the only thing Reno wanted to do was get drunk and forget what he had seen, what he had felt, and put the day out of his mind, but he couldn't. He'd tried the day he'd been released from the infirmary and had discovered that the enhancements made it impossible, something he was cursing now when he could desperately use the inebriation to forget what he'd been through.

"Reno?" Cloud's tone was worried as he entered his quarters without knocking. Zack had stopped by after getting back from Banora and had told Cloud to check on his lover, the young first class has been worried about him after what had happened that day. When Cloud heard from Zack, he too was worried. _Reno doesn't really like killing though he does it if he must, or if he's ordered. To destroy an entire village. . .I can't even imagine_.

Reno just sat down on his bed, staring at the wall and trying not to think. "I guess. ..Zack told you, yo?" the red haired Turk murmured softly. "About everything that happened today?" He swallowed, not liking the feeling that tore through heart and mind from thinking about the whole mission.

"Yeah, yeah he did." Cloud wrapped his arms around Reno, wanting more than anything else to give him some amount of comfort. "What happened _was not your fault_. I want you to get that. I know how easy it is to slip into the what ifs, but they won't help. You could not have stopped this, you could not have prevented it. All you can do now is deal."

Reno just leaned on him, closing his eyes and trying to still his racing mind. "I trust what you say." he finally responded. "As hard as it is to do, yo. ..I'll trust it, because I trust you More than I trust anyone, even Rude." The aquamarine eyes met Cloud's sky blue, that trust shining clearly in them. "Just hold me, yo? Hold me, help me forget? This day has completely an' utterly fuckin' sucked cock, an' I don't want to remember any of it if I can possibly avoid it."

"Of course I'll hold you." Cloud pulled him down onto the bed, resting the other young man against his chest and running his fingers through the silky fire red strands. He made the motions as soft and soothing as he could, a soft hum slipping free as he did all in his power to soothe the Turk.

It wasn't long before Reno drifted off in Cloud's arms, his body going limp as he left himself fall into a very much needed sleep.

Cloud had seen the gray streaks in his love's hair, but he'd put two and two together, better than Tseng had. He'd seen Genesis on one or two occasions after the man had begun to degrade, but even though he knew. . .he didn't want to believe it or think it. If it wasn't happening, then he would not ever have to lose this brilliant, intelligent,. and vibrant young man that he had grown to love as much as he had.

_I will protect him. I swore to him I would, and I am going to keep that vow. Even if it turns out to be himself I need to protect him from. He is going to remain and whole. For life._

* * *

Hojo himself had seen the changes, and his lips thinned. _What happened? My method was perfect. He should not be degrading! Mine is not the method of that hack Hollander's. It was perfectly sound scientific theory that has worked for every other SOLDIER in ShinRa's employ. It does not make sense!_ He had no idea that the treatments were utterly inimical to the genetic structure of those of the Ancient bloodlines. Jenova and Cetra simply did not play together well, they were the viral life form's natural enemy, and due to that simple fact things would never have gone as he'd planned.

He had not contacted Scarlet, not yet. . .his mind was still trying to puzzle out how the boy had begun degrading using his methods and Hojo did not like to admit that he might be wrong about something. He never had. _Though aimed in the right direction, he may still very well be useful. It is all a matter of the right words being placed in his ears at precisely the correct moment. That is doable, and I will be certain to see to its being done_.

The smirk that played across the scientist's face was nearly sinister in its dark intensity. Even though it had failed at some level, the thing he had wished to do, he could still make sure than the rest fell right into place as he wished it to. A few swift hand motions and the notes were placed in such a way that he knew the boy would go looking for them when the time was right.

* * *

"General?" Zack had arrived in Sephiroth's office nearly first thing, his expression very worried. "I saw something. . .during yesterday's mission as we were coming back. I think Reno is degrading. ..like Genersis and Angeal. I can't prove it, but we know what happened to them, how they eventually began to become unstable and deserted. I don't want to see that happen to him, Sir. He's a good kid, and he deserves better than that. But I don't know what to do."

The silver General's mouth narrowed and his emerald eyes grew distant. He knew that the Professor had used his own method for the SOLDIER treatment, so this should not have happened, but if it had. . .the boy would need to be very closely watched to prevent any further injury.

"Keep watch on him, Zack. Make certain he does not take any further injury, and be careful of his mental state. It will be difficult if he becomes like Angeal or Genesis because he will be underestimated. Not good at all."

"Of course I will." Zack assured him. He knew very well how dangerous underestimating a smaller enemy was, Cloud had proven that more than once by surprising him during their training sessions when the smaller teen had gotten the drop on him. He'd taken more than a few bruises from incidents such as that. He had no doubt that anyone who underestimated Reno in such a way would find themselves similarly surprised, and what was more, the man was trained to use his speed and flexibility in a way most SOLDIER were not.

_I just hope he doesn't snap like Genesis did. Angeal at least we still have some chance of retrieving, of bringing back to himself, if we're smart enough. Genesis? I don't think we do, and I don't want to think about what might happen. _He shook his head with a soft sigh as he picked up his phone. He'd gotten a text, one from a source he hadn't expected, and that one text would change the course of how events would have otherwise gone.

_Zack, make sure Sephiroth sees this. It's important, but tell him gently, he needs to know this within the next week. If it is discovered I am sending you this information, I will be in a great deal of trouble, but my father at the least would not __kill__ me for revealing it_. And attached to the text were documents, the same documents that Sephiroth would have discovered in Nibelheim in a month and a half's time.

"Sir. .. I think you need to see these." Not only were the documents attached, but the fact that Hojo had intended to use the Nibelheim mission to test his Reunion theory. Rufus of course had not known the full impact it would have had, but his actions had altered the course of history and averted a mass tragedy, as well as giving a man who should have one a chance at a somewhat normal life.

* * *

Rufus meanwhile after that text had been sent leaned back with a smirk. "Take this, Father. I will not allow you to use men as playtoys if I can avoid it. Not as you have done to me." His expression was bitter at that. The things his father had done were ones that he could not nor would ever forgive the man for.

As Sephiroth was given the phone, he looked through the attachment, and he sat, hard, his eyes closing. "All of this time. . .it was a lie?" The question in a tone that said it was the last thing he'd expected, but there was more ..a notation on the very bottom with the identities of his true biological parents. That notation made the jewel green eyes narrow into sharp focus.

"I want to know everything that you can find out about this Vincent Valentine." he told Zack. "You have friends among the Turks that would have greater clearance than either of us would and would be able to access this information. " and he stood, straightening. "I have asked for very few things over my years working for this company, First Class Fair. But I am asking of you, please. . .find this man."


	3. Chapter 3

Reno upon awakening the next morning stood in front of his mirror. The gray in his hair had extended, spreading from one tiny streak in the front of his bangs to four or five of those small streaks, and the one in his bangs had widened. He closed his eyes, pulling out the dye kit he'd brought the previous night, one that he made sure matched his natural color as well as he could, and went to work covering them. _I know somethin' is wrong, yo. . .but if I can hide the physical effects, I can still pretend everything is fine, an' that I can just go on as if there's nothin' happenin'. _

By the time he was done, his bathroom appeared as if he had committed a murder with the amount of crimson splashed everywhere, but his hair was a full pristine red again, the dreaded streaks gone from it. "I gotta clean up the dye on the walls before anyone sees it." he said quietly, looking at his restored image in the mirror, noting not even one gray hair remained.

A grin creased his face at the pristine look of him. _Do you really think you can pretend, little Puppet? _the voice whispered across his mind, mocking him and making him clench the sides of his head as if in pain. _You are fooling no one but yourself. You have become a monster. . .but maybe that was what you always were, hmm? _

"Shut up!" he yelled, even though he knew the voice was only in his head, and that he didn't have to speak aloud at all for it hear what he was saying. "Shut your fucking whore ass mouth, I don't wanna fucking hear your voice!" The defiance earned him a shot of agony that rang through his synapses like liquid fire, the flare of pain driving him to knees, silencing him to the point that only a faint whimper slipped out between gritted teeth in a tightly clenched jaw.

By the time the punishment had ended he was curled up around himself on the floor, all thought obliterated but the desire for the aching aftereffects to end so he could breathe and process thought again.

"Reno?" The voice was smooth and faintly accented, one that he recognized easily enough. "Are you all right?" Blond hair floated in swimming vision, though it was a wheaten shade rather than Cloud's gold, and all he could do was blink in surprise as the young man in the white suit bent down next to him. He'd never have thought the Vice President would give enough of a shit about someone like him to break into his room, much less kneel next to him and try to help him to his feet again.

"Mister Vice President?" The ragged voice betrayed his surprise at Rufus' actions, but as the boy helped him to stand and lead him over to his bed he felt an immense burst of gratitude. "Gotta admit you were the last person I was expectin' to see. But. . .thank you, for helpin' me out." he looked sadly at the wall, his heart and mind in an uproar. He hated being so vulnerable, and he hated even more that Rufus had seen him that way.

"I know, you know?" Rufus told him in a serious and quiet tone. "I know what it's like being one of that man's damnedable experiments. " he set a hand on top of Reno's, his expression serious. "I don't want to see that happen to anyone else. And. .. I've heard the voices too." The pain of that voice in the head and the heart, urging to destruction, to hatred, to doom. "I know the price of telling it no. I know what happens when you do."

Reno's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, yo. You shouldn't have to deal with it any more than I do. Your father's an asshole, an' Hojo's just a freak of fucking nature." He shuddered at the thought. Rufus in the hands of that madman. "I don't know what to do anymore. I'm. .not well, Rufus. I don't know that I have been for a long time. But it's more. ..I'm. ." he swept his hair back off his face. "I'm losin' it. I feel like I'm gonna lose my damn mind."

"Then I'll help you find it again." Rufus told him. "I'll do everything I can to do so. " he looked down at their joined hands. "You have been here for me, ever since you came, you've watched over me. You have been a brother to me in all but blood, and I owe you for that." and he smiled a bit. "Now it's my time to repay that favor and watch out for you."

"I can't ask you to do that, Rufus." Reno murmured. "I'm supposed to protect you, that's my duty, but more, it's my pleasure. I do it 'cause I _want_ to."

He remembered when he'd first met Rufus, the memory dancing across his mind like a movie, drawing a bit of a smile.

_The red hair had trailed down into the fox like face as the young man looked up. Those eyes gleamed with the colors of the ocean as they met pale ice blue. They met, and locked, as the boy struggled between the two infantrymen that had brought him in after stealing Tseng's wallet "Let me go." his voice was barely above a whispered growl. _

_"I've come to make you an offer." Rufus could tell this boy was almost like a wild animal, all instinct and caution. He needed to be handled carefully, lest they lose what he possessed in that speed and courage that was unlike anything he'd seen in a long time. "One that could get you out of the slums. ..and one that could protect you from that which I know you fear. Even if you don't realize fully what that fear is." _

_"An' I should trust you why?" Reno drawled out, he knew who this boy was. After all, his face had been all over the televisions for months. "Son to President Rupert ShinRa. The guy that's been grindin' the slums into the ground for years." his eyes sparked, rage and some other strange emotion blending together. _

_"Because I know what you are." Rufus told him softly. "I know what you are, and I've been searching for you. Trying to find you before my father figured out what you are. You deserve better than to starve. ..and you also deserve better than to be made into a scientific curiosity. If you take my offer, I can protect you from both." _

_"If I take it. ..you gotta promise me somethin'." _

_"Anything you wish." _

_"The church in the Sector Five slums? It's never to be touched, yo. It's a special place, an' I don't want your father's stinkin', dirty hands anywhere near it." Reno had finally begun to stop struggling, something, some odd sense from deep within, told him this boy meant what he said. _

_"I promise." Rufus said solemnly. "No one from this company that will be mine will ever put their hands on it so long as I can prevent it. You will soon find that I protect what is mine with an iron will. You are my choice. Not my father's, but mine. He will be angry that he did not get to make the choice, but I care little. You have potential."_

_"Then. ..I'll take your offer. But you sure as Hell better never betray me, because I don't forgive easy when ya do somethin' like that. Only a handful of people ever have, an' all but maybe onea those is dead. It's just a bad, bad idea" Reno's expression was firm. He would not tolerate being betrayed, especially when he was going out on a limb to trust this guy when he really didn't have a lot of reason._

_"If I betrayed you, I would be throwing away something precious. I may be many things, Mister Kirbani, but stupid I am not, nor have ever been." he chuckled a bit at that as he met Reno's eyes dead on. "And I know that you are not stupid either. I believe we understand each other." _

_"Good, then you got my vow. I'll watch out for you, as long as you watch out for me, yo. I think s'a fair agreement, yeah?" For the first time since his capture, Reno genuinely smiled, and the teal eyes sparked with amusement. "You watch my ass, I'll watch yours." And his gaze running down the white suited body said clearly he'd like very much to watch that ass. _

"I just remember thinkin' how much I liked that ass, an' how that all by itself made it worth watchin' over you." Reno let out a short laugh at that as the memory let go, the ache in his head finally beginning to fade back to some kind of manageable level. "If Cloud figures out what's goin' on, he'll freak, Rufus," The fact that Reno used his first name was a sure sign he was either badly shaken or trying to somewhat relax.

"Come, I will help you get the dye cleaned up. You know that Strife will figure it out eventually, the boy is far from stupid. But you are correct in that hiding it for now is the most intelligent thing to do. Subtlety is a necessity for now. all must be done in the correct manner or all will fall, and that will not help any of us." Rufus stood, slipping off the white jacket so as not to get any of the red substance on it.

It took about an hour and a half to clean all of the dye off of the bathroom wall,. Reno doing all in his power to try to keep the voice in his head completely at bay. "Thanks, Rufus" Reno told the other man quietly as they finished. "I do appreciate it."

* * *

"Do you really believe me that stupid?" President Rupert ShinRa's mouth pressed closed onto his cigar as he looked over his surveillance footage. He had bugs in places that very few would expect him to, and what he'd found had infuriated him. "I am not a foolish man, I have not come as far as I have by being one, Professor. The only reason I keep you on instead of executing you, for now, is that I still need you. If I did not, you would be already be dead." the rage in those cornflower eyes however was obvious, though he'd kept it as much under control as he could. "My son by now has found the information that I left freely available for him to. Taking the young man from you that you've treated as little more than a tool to be used will be my pleasure."

The President, like his son, had discovered that subtlety had its uses, and that this one of those situations where it was better to be sneaky and gain revenge in a manner other than bloodshed. The smirk that lit his face around his cigar spoke of a man who had the situation well in hand. "By the time you know what hit you, it will be all over. You will be put back into your place, all of your sad efforts at a coup will be for naught."

He also would deal with Scarlet, but not yet. He knew well that if he made her an offer better than the one Hojo had made her it would be easy to make her betray the scientist, and once he had achieved that holding onto what was his would be simple enough to do. "Soon enough, I will have from you what I need, professor, and once I do, you will be replaced by someone who understands the concept of loyalty better than you seem to."

Already the President had people working on the encryption around Hojo's network. He would not tolerate treachery, except for from his son which he almost respected such to come from. As soon as he had the data, Hojo would be executed. The President had no use for traitors.

* * *

"Sir?" Kunsel had entered Sephiroth's office, and for once his helmet was off, exposing the light brown hair that framed his face in a riot of curls and the gleaming Mako eyes. "Zack asked me to get this information for you, I'm assuming at your request, and to bring it to you once I'd obtained it." and the Third Class slipped a folder full of documents onto Sephiroth's desk, most of them Hojo's personal diaries that had been transcribed onto ShinRa's networks from his days in Nibelheim.

"Thank you, Third Class Kunsel." The words were spoken in a sincere tone as the silver haired man lifted his head up from where it had been bent over his paperwork. Once he had dismissed the younger SOLDIER and the man had left, he began to voraciously devour the information that the other had brought him.

It painted a picture of a quiet, shy young man who was dedicated to his job, one that had managed to fall in love with a married woman. _I've no idea what she saw in Hojo,_ Sephiroth thought to himself, _unless it was the fact that the man is a scientist and was willing to allow her to do her experiments which most of the scientific community would consider insane._.

Negative life stream, tainted Mako, the chaos factor, whatever it was one wished to call it. ..Sephiroth himself was not a scientist, but even he could see how dangerous toying with such a thing could be. It would be like sticking one's hand into a fire and expecting not to get burned. _Both of them were fools, she and Hojo both. Though I will give Mother this. .. she was wise enough to try to turn from it once she discovered she had been played for a fool_.

Upon reading that his father had been last seen in Nibelhein in the old manor house, the General's lips pursed. "It is time I pay my old home town a visit." he said quietly to himself. Though he'd not been born there, but in the lab in the Tower, Nibelheim had been where it had all begun, and it was as close to a hometown as he could say he possessed.

General Sephiroth put in for a week of the leave that he had accrued, and requested to take Zack and the young cadet with him. _I will need someone calm there. . .someone who has an eye for fine detail as well. I am already to be sent there for monster elimination, to be certain, but I wish to do this while not under Hojo's eye. He'd stop this, if he could do so, and I wish to meet my father._

* * *

Cloud had stayed in Reno's room after being called by Rufus to come stay with him. His arms wrapped tightly around the slender body, head burying into the Turk's shoulder. He was determined to protect his lover no matter what it took, the vow he'd made staying at the top of his mind even now as the man slept a deep, drugged, dreamless sleep. _I won't deny I'm scared. I can sense that things aren't as he's trying to make them seem, that he's not as all right as he claims, even though he's got them dyed now, I saw the streaks, I know what they mean. There's a way to stop it, I know there is, there has to be. It just has to be found_.

The blond almost felt bad about pressing the sedatives onto his lover, though at least they'd allowed Reno a night of peaceful sleep without the nightmares that had been there since the accident.

What he did not know was that Jenova was still speaking to the sleeping mind, attacking while he was weakened and his guards were down. Reno was still resisting her, for now, successfully but how long that would be true was anyone's guess as of now. _Go away, bitch. You aren't wanted. I belong to me!_

_Come, child. . .there are answers for you if you follow me. .. you don't know the entirety of what they did to you, do you? You do not know the truth. Poor, poor blind little boy. _The words wrapped around his mind, and even as much as Reno strove not to listen. . .they began to niggle at him, to play on his doubts and draw them to the surface. The playing on his insecurity and fears would put him right into Jenova's hand.

She had lost her favored son due to the meddling of the loathsome humans but she could not help but think how wonderfully ironic it would be to use one of her sister's own Children against her. _The delight in watching the world fall at the hand of one of its own protectors. . .oh how delicious that irony would be._ _That alone makes it worth losing Sephiroth because these stupid humans do not know when to leave well enough alone. And watching how the guilt will destroy what is left. . .there is no sweeter victory than that. I will enjoy using one of Minerva's own as a puppet ._From within the tank in Nibelheim, the alien creature's lips curved up into a smirk,

All would soon fall right into place, just as she had planned it. The world would fall, by fire, and by her will. And she would watch it and in her eyes. ..it would be good. _And I will be the only Goddess that they shall know, sister. _

* * *

Sephiroth had woken the next morning early, getting Zack and Cloud with him as he stepped out onto the helipad. "I am certain you are curious why I would ask a cadet to accompany me on such a mission. " he turned to Strife as the vehicle was loaded, serpentine eyes serious. He knew very well the young man had to be curious, after all it was not often a cadet was invited onto a mission of this importance.

"Honestly sir. .. yes, I had. " Cloud lifted his rifle and slung it onto his back. He also had his training katana with him, but he was not as skilled with the blade yet, though Zack had been teaching him and he figured he'd learn it well enough soon. "It's not often at all that cadets get chosen for a thing like this."

"I brought you because you and Zack both have strong reasons for me to wish to succeed in the endeavor I am not embarking on, even if you do not realize that yet." he gave the blond a bit of a smirking smile at that. He didn't explain himself with that, it would become clear soon enough. If he could frustrate Hojo, it would help the young Turk that during their training he had actually become a bit attached to himself.

_Though. . .I must admit it's hard not to. The boy is a bit of an acquired taste, certainly, but that does not change the fact that he is somewhat. .addictive_. It was something akin to finding out you had one more of your favorite flavor of candy on the bottom of the box when you'd been just about to throw it away, or discovering a surprise party on your birthday when you were sure everyone had forgotten.

It was the kind of guy that would do something silly just to make a friend smile, though not many got to see that side of the Turk and if Sephiroth had to be honest with himself he was honored that the redhead had trusted him enough to share it. _I will never betray that trust, and I will not disappoint Zack who had become my friend by failing him. _That vow, made as he climbed into the back of the helicopter. It was the Turk's Vice Director that would be flying them to Nibelheim, the discretion was necessary due to the nature of what they were to be doing.

The trip was nearly silent. None of them knew what was to come, not now, what had been to happen had been altered by one small ripple, though none knew that, but in the future. The silver haired man would curse himself for not realizing what had been happening within the teenager mentally, though there had been no way for him to.

* * *

Tseng's expression was closed off and his face placid as they stepped off the helicopter and walked through the town back toward the mansion. The townspeople had remained in their homes when they saw the silver haired man that walked behind the Turk, and the other first class behind him with the trooper, still in his helmet.

Zack did not ask why Cloud had kept his face covered, he knew of the boy's dream to make First Class before coming home, and it was shameful to the blond that he hadn't, even with the realization it had been himself he had been trying to impress, he wasn't sure how to face Tifa, should he run into her. Better to just keep his face hidden and pretend he'd never been there.

Reno woke shortly after they others left, almost as if in a trance. . .walking toward the helipad with eerily emotionless eyes and a dead expression,. He climbed into one of the birds and took off, almost as if lead, the helicopter heading toward the northwest. Toward the sleepy mountain town that had been his lover's home as a boy.

Already another waited. . .the once russet hair now completely gone silver, like Sephiroth's own. Genesis had awaited his old friend, with the possibility of getting a cure for his own degredation. He wanted nothing more than to not die, though for the moment his own rage and the clouding of his mind were helping little toward the possibility of gaining that end.

_Like a hidden time bomb, inside my DNA just waiting to go off. My parents knew, Hollander knew, and no one saw fit to say a word to me about it. And then they all wonder why Angeal and I are angry? It seems they really are that stupid_. He rested against a wall inside the mansion, mouth curled up in distaste at the knowledge that he had been thoroughly betrayed by everyone he'd once trusted.

Except Sephiroth. Sephiroth had not betrayed him, and he supposed he owed the man a debt of thanks for keeping ShinRa's hounds off his trail as long as he had.

As the group approached the mansion Genesis couldn't help the faint chuckle. "And just what is it you hope to find here? I certainly hope it isn't the truth, old friend, because we all know ShinRa has never been willing to deliver on _that_."

Sephiroth's head turned at hearing that voice he knew very, very well. "I've already discovered the truth." he told the other General nonchalantly. "No, I am here for the family that was hidden from me for far too many years." With a motion that made his hair fly out behind him the Silver General headed toward the basement. He knew precisely where he had to go, and he could feel Genesis' astonished stare at his back, but it amused him more than anything else.

_What is he playing at? _Genesis could not help asking himself that question as he watched t he black clad figure stride down the stares into the basement of the mansion like a man on a mission. The roar of the monster as the safe was literally cut in half by Sephiroth, and Lost Number following shortly after floated up the stairway, the encounter had taken all of approximately twenty seconds with him sweeping up the key to the special room with his sword and catching it with his hand.

* * *

The door was opened to reveal the room with the coffins, and for a moment, Sephiroth paused in the doorway. That was his father in that coffin. ..alive, but in a death like sleep. He wasn't certain he was ready for this, but at the same time. . .he knew he needed it. This was how he would heal. . .and get back the connection he'd yearned for, the one he'd never had as a child and would have killed for. Finally he had it, but he was almost afraid to reach for it, lest it backfire in his face.

But after a few moments he lifted the lid, slowly, almost reverently, slowly blinking as he looked down at the man within. _His face. .. it looks so much like my own. His hair is a different color, but his nose. ..the shape of his eyes and chin. . .I see who I ended up looking like. _As the man's ruby red eyes slid open, the only words to come from Sephiroth's mouth were ones of wonder.

"Father. . ." it was just a breath, a whisper, but it reached Vincent's ears well enough, and he sat up, blinking in shock.

The former Turk's expression was stunned as he settled a hand onto the General's cheek. "All of these years. . .thinking you were his. Never knowing where you had gone. Your mother never knew." The reunion was a bittersweet one. Vincent still blamed himself for what had happened with Lucrecia, and with Sephiroth. "I won't ask for your forgiveness. I have failed you, I do not deserve it from you or from your mother."

"None the less, Father. . .you shall have it." a slight smile curved the General's mouth. "I have wanted this for more years than you know, if you believe I would throw this away now, you would be more insane than some people believe I am." The sense of humor is one that Vincent would likely recognize quickly enough, it was after all his own.

As Vincent took himself fully from the coffin, he stood and stared at this full grown man that he knew was his son, now that he could see him fully. Were it not for the experimentation, Sephiroth's hair would likely be the same inky blue black as Vincent's own, and even in the eerie emerald if one looked closely enough they would be able to see flecks of the russet brown color of Vincent's eyes. Sure signs if ever there were any. "I suppose it's time I woke from my sleep. . .your mother sleeps in a crystal slumber that is her only way of survival. . .I could take you to her. . .when you are ready."

"For now, I must return to ShinRa." he shook his head wearily. "They have further missions for me. .. ." he was not paying any attention whatsoever to what was going on up the stairs, too caught up in this one simple moment. _I have what I've always wanted. . .and my heart isn't certain what to make of that fact_. A heart that had been too long devoid of any familial feeling at all reeled a bit in confusion. How did one that had gone without deal with having a family suddenly?

* * *

Reno's arrival in the mansion had been nearly silent, though he was met by Genesis, who had stayed where he was, merely listening to his friend gain the thing he'd been looking for his whole life. He had come for the being in the tank below, Jenova's will too strong to even possibly be resisted.

"Oh, you poor, poor lost child." Genesis' voice was mocking as he regarded the other redhead. "No one has bothered to tell you the truth, have they?" He circled the Turk, the blank gaze seeming to follow him as he moved.

The russet haired SOLDIER released a hearty, sardonic, full bodied laugh at that. "Used as a pawn. . .one of Professor Hojo's experiments gone wrong, but I may have use for you." a smirk touched his lips. "I only want some of that which you intend to steal for yourself. " a brow quirked "Or is that which you intend to _free_?"

Reno's expression remained blank, but some of the words had reached him, that about the lies. . they had lied to him, hadn't they? Hidden things from him, not revealed everything that had happened to him with the treatments. But what was he able to do about it? It wasn't as if he could go back and make them not lie.

_No. .child. .. you can't change the past, but you can teach them, can't you? _that voice whispered across his consciousness, and reached into the one place that he could not easily combat. _You can teach them why it is such a bad idea to lie to you. Set me free. . .set me free and I will help you teach them. They will never lie to you again after we are through. . .I promise you._

It was if something snapped inside of him with those words, Reno had never been one to take betrayal well, and this was a betrayal any way one sliced it.

* * *

Cloud watched the reunion between the General and his father, a smile touching the corners of his mouth at the sweet scene. Out of all of the horrible things that had happened over the past few weeks, this one moment almost made all of it worthwhile.

Reno had turned as the voice spoke and directed him away from the mansion and out of the town itself, up onto the mountain. The reactor was his target. . .the reactor and what it held within its belly, inside the bowels trapped within a glass cocoon.

"What are you doing here, Turk?" one of the guards at the reactor got only that out before a hand lashed out, throwing the young infantryman from the platform to hit the floor with a loud thud, the footsteps clattering down into the belly with not a word spoken, red hair having come loose of its tie hanging down in front of eyes that looked like chips of ice in a pale face utterly void of any emotion at all. The other guard did not move to stop him, stunned silent and motionless by the look of the man.

"I'm here." the words held a breathless air to them as Reno's hands reached up and almost seemed to caress the metal statue that was placed on the front of the tank, touching the cold steel as one would a lover before grabbing the wings and pulling, the oil that kept the workings inside of it lubricated flying out in viscous droplets as it came free and was set on the floor. "I will set you free."

As the mask was set aside, a call had gone out from the other guard, reporting the injury to his partner and who their attacker had been. The call had not reached the SOLDIER already in town, but HQ had dispatched several second class to come out and handle the problem. Kunsel and Luxiere were the two, and Hojo had said he was coming with them.

_He must be taken in. If they discover that I knew what was happening and he causes a ruckus, my own plans will come unraveled. I can not allow that to happen. I must catch him, keep him under containment until I can discover what went wrong and compensate,_ Hojo paced as he waiting on the pad for the SOLDIER to be ready. He and the two SOLDIER would be dropped straight in front of the reactor, it would be a blitz, they knew what they were dealing with so there was no need to rent a hotel or go through the townspeople.

"We're ready to go, sir." Kunsel told him as they climbed aboard the chopper. He honestly did not trust Hojo one bit, but he was not one to question an order that had come down from someone who was practically an executive. It was dangerous to do so, and he knew it.

Hojo simply nodded and climbed in, his lips pursed as he turned his head away in an effort not to not to give away his intentions. As the helicopter lifted from the ground he closed his hazel eyes and thought on how he would get the Turk that had threatened everything that he had planned.

The flight north was nearly silent, and would be fairly quick, though not quick enough to stop what was to come. Only for them to be able to clean up the disaster that would be left behind and for Hojo to collect what he saw as his.

* * *

The floor of the reactor was flooded with viscous green as Reno finally worked the valves free to open the tank the remainder of the way. As the alien life form was let free, she reached over with a single hand, setting it onto his cheek, pink eyes meeting his aquamarine in a gaze that was near hypnotic. It was much the same sort of touch a mother would give her child when he'd done something to please her. The almost ethereal form seemed to float out of the reactor, drawing him out behind her.

_Now my child. . .the vengeance you so deserve shall be yours .I will make certain that you achieve it. _Jenova's voice, even freed from the tank, was still entirely telepathic. She could speak with those which possessed her cells as if vocally, as well as maintain some aspect of control over them. She used it to good stead now, her desire to take and sully that which Minerva sought to preserve an instinct as strong as that of self preservation.

The glassy eyed look as Reno walked from the reactor behind Jenova would be frightening for nearly all who knew him, his body seeming to move on instinct instead of under his own power. Already, the dye was beginning to be worn through, silver streaking through where the crimson had once been, and when he walked from the massive plant, a scream would rip from the Turk's throat as in a shower of blood and black feathers a monstrous wing thrust its way through his left shoulder blade, leaving scarlet droplets and ebon pin feathers scattered over the ground below him as he lifted into the air, taking off toward the south like a shot.

* * *

Hojo made a growling noise as he watched the one he'd been so very desperate to contain streak by them like a shot, the chopper rocking hard in the wind caused by the winged figure's passing. "Knock him _down_!" came the snarled order from the scientist as Kunsel scrambled for the rocket launcher that was in the back of the craft, firing one of them at the agile form, watching as it missed, and yelped as Reno streaked at them, fire in those blue green eyes.

The missile that had been launched at him raced by Reno and into the forested area below, catching the dry brush in a fast spreading conflagration that threatened Cosmo Canyon and Nibelheim both, but he was far too angry to be worried about that. His fist was extended and it punched through the helicopter's windscreen, shattering it in such as a way as to cause glass to rain down into the flames that had sprung to lift from the explosions. The grasping hands latched onto one of the troopers that had come with them, flinging him screaming to the ground below to be lost in the howling fire.

"You." Reno's voice was little more than a growl. "You lied to me." His teeth were bared as he stared Hojo down, madness and rage lighting his face. "I was just a toy to you. A scientific curiosity. Not that I should be all that surprised, yo. You've torn apart so many lives just so you could get what you wanted."

"Is this how you speak to the one that saved your life, boy?" The Professor was not about to show fear to this creature that in terms of intellect was an insignificant insect next to him. "You ought to learn how to speak to your betters." The orange-yellow orbs were cold, all sharp intelligence and logic, though there was something more there. An old and almost terrifyingly eldritch knowledge. The recollection of things that no man was meant to know.

"This is how I talk to th'man that may as well have killed me at the same time as he saved me. You fuckin' betrayed me, Hojo, and you better realize, right here, right now, your days are fuckin' numbered." Reno simply knelt on the nose of the craft, the fact that it was beginning to fall and the pilot was terrified to try to keep it in the air didn't even seem to register as he finally lifted from it and began to fly off again.

The sting of the round between his shoulders would be the last he would know for five long years.


	4. Chapter 4

Hojo's eyes narrowed as a geyser of green sprung up from the ground below them, washing over the burning land as the pilot obeyed his order to set down, and he lifted up the body of the young Turk, carrying it into the helicopter. "No one is to be told of this. No one. If the president, or anyone else for that matter, hears about this I will know it was from your lips. You will not like what will happen to you if you say anything to anyone."

Kunsel and Luxiere both gave thick swallows and nodded. They both knew very well what this man was capable of, and that he could do it in such a way that no one would ever find them again, not so much as even finding their bodies. Not a fate either of them ever wanted to meet. "Y-yes sir."

Hojo nodded in satisfaction, directing them to fly to Cactaur island. He had a lab there where he could continue his work, completely undisturbed and tucked away from anyone within ShinRa who might find him. He remained with them as long as he did for the funding, but he'd saved enough, slowly funneling away the grant money, that he could afford to never go back again.

As they reached it, he personally carried the body in, instructing the two to take the helicopter back and reminding them again not a word to anyone in ShinRa. _You are mine now, boy. You should have been from the beginning but you had too many around you to protect you for me to achieve that before. No more. Now I have you, and I shall not let you go until you are mine in the heart and mind as well as the body._

Genesis had been leaving Nibelheim as the Lifestream had broken up through the soil to cleanse the dark taint from the earth, and had been sucked into the flow. A crack opened up in the ground and sucked him under, dragging him in with the flow. Tumbling, end over end, head over foot, through a green river that seemed to burn with its intensity, until the auburn haired man reached the very center of the deep pit.

Within stood a glowing, silent figure with hair the color of the sun itself, that light seeming to come from within. She wore a head dress and belt and chest plate of polished gold, her dress pristine white. Not a word was spoken by her, but Genesis knew immediately who this was, and he knelt, worshipful. He knew, after all that he had done, much of it that had not yet been discovered, that he was far from worthy of this, and yet she had deigned to grace him not only her presence and the healing of body and mind that she was giving him. .. but her choosing him to act as her avatar in the world above, her arm when she had none.

The flood of images that filled his mind made him nearly stagger. First, the war of the Gods, fire and smoke and destruction traversing the universe, and everywhere that the Dark Goddess put her hands and tainted, death would follow. The rising up of the Lifestream from world after world, the cycle starting again and again as Minerva attempted to stay one step ahead of her darker sister.

And it had started here as well. ..with the falling of Jenova on this world after the destruction of Spira so many centuries before, their descendents, the descendents of the Al Bhed through Shinra's blood line later becoming the line that the great company had been built by, and the summoners. . .Minerva had taken the summoners and blessed them with her own hand to become the Cetra.

Genesis gasped at what she was showing him, the enormity of it almost destroying the frail sanity she had managed to restore to him after his healing, but he could feel only one conviction now in his heart and mind. It was time for him to pay for the wrong he had done. . .and the first step in that was to rescue the Child of Minerva that had found himself in so much trouble from Jenova's hand.

The group had returned to Midgar, Sephiroth and Vincent talking and getting to know one another as they were flown back. None of them had any idea what had happened at the reactor yet, nor what would come of it. Cloud was thinking only about getting back to the young love of his life and sharing with him what they had found while they were in the town that the blond had been born in.

Zack couldn't help the chuckle as he watched. He had no idea that the changes that had happened around them had saved his own life, as well, that he would gain years that he would not otherwise have had. Just one action could change everything, like the ripples of a stone being thrown into water.

Vincent's expression had grown less closed off and more alive as the flight went on, the discovery that this man who was his son was more like him than not had awakened the long buried sense of humor that he thought had died the day Lucrecia had walked away from him, already bearing his child in her womb, though she'd not known that at the time.

"Things have grown since I've been sleeping." Vincent commented as he peered out of the window of the air craft, noting how there were cities that had not been there when he'd gone to Nibelheim, and how the ones that had been there were larger than they had been. "I suppose I shall have to accustom myself to the changes."

"I will find you a place to stay, so you do not have to set foot in ShinRa. Things would go rather ill for you should the Professor discover I've wakened you, and I would rather not be forced to bring trouble down upon myself by killing him." The casual way in which the General spoke of the man's death spoke volumes of his feelings toward him. To him Hojo was little more than an annoying insect to be squashed, scientific discoveries aside the man was a monster, and certainly not anything to be revered.

Cloud gave Sephiroth a bit of a side eyed look, but he didn't much like Hojo himself. The fact that the man had saved his love's life was the only redeeming quality the creepy scientist had, in his opinion.

Zack just shook his head. "Hojo creeps me out." he said quite honestly, shuddering at the thought of the man in the lab coat, greasy ponytail, and glasses, with the hawk like nose and pallid skin. He shook his head, shoving the thoughts out of his mind. "Best not to think about it."

Vincent's eyes went dark at the mention of the man's name. There were things none of them knew, a history between he and the scientist that made his muscles tense and his jaw firm, eyes going flinty in a deeply buried rage. He didn't speak, but if he could get his hands on Hojo. . .things were going to be messy.

Vincent was settled into an apartment in Midgar, one which he'd seemed fairly happy with, as Cloud returned to find his lover not there. He didn't worry too much for the first few weeks that Reno was missing, the blond infantryman figuring he'd just been sent out on a mission where he'd been ordered to be incommunicado and had not had a chance to call Cloud to tell him.

It was during the third week when Hojo began to seem almost exceedingly smug that he began to honestly be concerned, and when Rufus called he, Zack, Rude, and Sephiroth together for a meeting Cloud's anxiety levels rose sharply. There was something that set him incredibly ill at ease with the whole situation, he just was not entirely certain what it was yet.

"I called you here for one reason." Ice blue eyes panned over from one to the other, making certain that all of them were listening. "As you all likely know, Reno disappeared from ShinRa Headquarters three weeks ago as of yesterday. My father apparently knows nothing about it, Tseng and Verdot are both extremely concerned, Scarlet also has disappeared to parts unknown, and Professor Hojo looks like the guard hound that ate the rabbit. In other words, something about this is not right. I would call my Turks in on this, but it would likely get back to my father if I did so, and I do not want him in involved in this, because I suspect he may have approved of whatever caused the young man's disappearance, and I do not want him tipped off if that happens to be so. You are the next best thing. Sephiroth, you are capable of being discrete when it comes to ferreting out information, and Cloud, you and Zack have a great amount of motivation to find him. And finding him, bringing him home, is all I ask of you."

Rufus lowered his eyes, then as he looked back up, his next words would shock them. "He's the only blood I have left aside from my father with Lazard gone. He is my little brother. I discovered it two years ago, and as much as I have wanted to tell him that, it's simply been in his best interest that I remain silent on the fact. My father would not have approved."

Cloud's eyes widened at that. Reno. . .was the president's son? The Vice President's brother? But his mind began superimposing their faces and he realized that aside from Reno's face being a bit thinner, and his nose a bit more pert than Rufus' straight bridged nose, they looked nearly alike, only Rufus's coloring was rendered in pale pinks, golds, and roses, while Reno's was reds and the summery brown of his freckles. It was like one of those things that was right in front of one's face, obvious if one knew, but sometimes it took a nudge to put the pieces together.

"Rufus, you know we'll do all in our power to find him. " Cloud assured him. "That boy is the one that I love, and whatever I have to do to bring him home, I'll do." It was all that he felt really needed saying, but he did hope that Rufus was wrong. . and that was not in the kind of trouble that they all feared.

The teal eyes fluttered a moment, and all there was before them was green. .the color of raw mako. From the outside one would see a slender nude male floating inside of a tank filled with a substance that danced from liquid to gas to solid and back, seemingly on its own whims.

"He's responded well to the treatments." came the almost oily sounding voice, one that Reno would have remembered well if he'd been anywhere near conscious enough to. Once he was entirely conscious his memories of this time would be totally fragmented, but even those would be enough to drive him fully into madness and plunge him fully into the darkest abyss of his mind.

Hojo studied the readings on the computer console in front of him, smirking at the results of the tests that he had run after finding a way to reverse the damage the degradation had done to the young one's cell structure. "There. But he is not ready to be let free of the tank. .not yet."

Hojo was not taking any risks until he felt he had the Turk programmed to the point that there was no danger of his tool turning against him. He of course had no idea just _how _strong the man's will was or he would have been more reluctant to ever let Reno free at all ever. "My little Ancient. .. so small, and yet so strong. You would kill me could you do so, wouldn't you? Oh, I believe you would, but you shall never have the chance. By the time I let you out you will have forgotten all about your hatred of me. The perfect tool."

He stepped back from the glass, the smirk still affixed to his face. He had things under control again, and it made for good days for the professor.

Scarlet's body was found hanging from her ceiling two mornings later. It'd been made to appear a suicide, but nearly all of those who knew the Weapons Director doubted that appearance. The President merely accepted it, but then again the man had always had his reasons to want rid of her, as ShinRa had fully risen to power she had become too ambitious for Rupert's taste. Losing the information she may have had on Hojo's whereabouts was not something he liked, however.

As the infantrymen that had been assigned to do so lifted the slender blond woman off the noose and carried her body out of the room it was hard to see the blood that had flowed from her with the crimson rug that stretched across the hardwood floor of her corporate apartment. They bore the body out with the respect she deserved.

The cigar smoke curled around the golden hair as it rose up around the stocky man in the office that overlooked the city of Midgar. _His_ city, and if Hojo thought to change that the scientist had another thing coming. "At least I've not lost the young one from Gongaga." he said quietly to himself. "Or the General, though I am surprised he has not yet fled, having not only his two friends desert, but the young Turk he'd taken on as a protégé. "

He could feel things shifting like the sands beneath his feet, and he swore to himself he'd use the business acumen that had turned ShinRa from a tiny weapons producer. into a world superpower that had control of just about every industry on the planet. "I will not lose what belongs to me." That vow, made in a firm tone, but he had no idea as yet how prophetic that would be.

During the third month of Reno's captivity with the professor, Cloud had developed enough of a resistance to the mako used to create SOLDIER that he was able to take the treatments without getting poisoned, something that Zack attributed to the strengthening of his will to get stronger so h e could find his lover.

The First Class watched the young newly promoted Third Class make his way through the motions of the sword training katas that Sephiroth had taught the blond, the determination that rested in those eyes one that Zack knew all too well. _He's not gonna let this go, and to be honest I don't blame him. I'm still mad at the company for what was done to Banora, and that more effort hasn't been made to find Genesis and Angeal, but I know our best hope of finding a way to make things good is to stick around and find the chinks in the armor the old man keeps around his hold on things_.

Once Cloud had finished his katas, he turned back to Zack, shaking his head. "I just hope he's still alive, and in some kind of shape that makes living worthwhile, when we find him. There haven't been reports of further destruction, so chances are he's been captured. I just don't believe he's dead, so that's the only option that makes sense."

"We will find him, Cloud. That he's alive? Means there is hope. " Zack smiled a bit at that as he headed to get his own things ready. The promotion ceremony was the next day, and he wanted Cloud to be at his best for it.

A simple weary nod, but Cloud was still crestfallen. The past few months had been hard on him, harder than he wanted to admit to.

Then, he blinked in surprise as a young woman in a pink dress, red vest, and brown boots strode in, but he became even more surprised when Zack walked over to her with a rather displeased expression. He hadn't realized Zack knew this girl.

"Aerith! What are you doing here, don't you realize how dangerous it was to come here?" The expression on the Gongagan's face was one of extreme dismay. "If they catch you here, I don't think I can protect you. You have got to go!" He'd learned what Aerith was shortly before Reno's disappearance and now it worried Zack to have her anywhere even near the Tower.

"Relax, Zack, Tseng came with me." she giggled a bit as she said that, and then her face took on a serious look. "There are things you need to know. Rufus' actions in stopping what would have happened in Nibelheim have created a new timeline. I could sense it, but trying to explain it would simply confuse you." Her head lowered and she let loose a sigh. "Needless to say, Reno is indeed alive, but I don't know where he is. All I do know is that Cloud. . ." Aerith turned to him, eyes as green as fresh young leaves meeting his. "You will have a significant role to play in what is to come. Your actions will determine whether the world lives. . .or dies."

She felt a bit sorry for him, the choice that would be laid at his feet was a difficult one for him to make, and she would not wish it on anyone in the world. "I know you can, but it won't be easy. But you won't be alone." Aerith knew how cryptic she was being, but not even she knew all. The Planet revealed what it would in its own time, and she could only give them the information that she had available.

Tseng appeared in the doorway a hand reaching out for Aerith. "I am sorry, but I must take you home now, Miss Gainsborough. It is no longer safe for you to be here, the President leaves his office in bare moments and I must have you out of the building prior to him doing so." he escorted her out, his lips pursing at what he had overheard. _I do hope you know what you're doing, Minerva. That boy is just that, a boy, and he is not ready for what you would have him do. Not yet. My hope is that he will be by the time he must, for all may well fall should what Aerith say be true if he is not. _

A year after Reno's disappearance the official KIA notification had gone out, and most had begun to lose hope. Rude had been called into Verdot's office with one express intent. . .to assign him a new partner. The bald man's lips clenched as he gave his supervisor one flat out answer. "Sorry sir, but my answer is no. I don't believe he's dead, and I will neither take a new partner, nor will I stop searching for him until he's found. Don't like it, put me behind a desk, but that is how it is."

"Rude. .." Verdot shook his head, tone sorrowful. "I know how you feel. But face it, he would have returned by now were he still alive, he's been missing for a year. He has either abandoned us with no intention of every returning, or he has been killed, and in either case, you must take a new partner. There is no other way, no Turk works alone."

"Then we find Reno. That is the way it is. ..sir." Rude strode out of the office at that. All of them were worried, but they still had faith that he would eventually come back to them. They refused to believe anything less.

Sephiroth kept watch for any further activity, but the last thing he had been expecting was to be contacted by Genesis. An undegraded Genesis that seemed sane, almost serene now. "I spoke to the Goddess." a hand lifted in an almost theatrical gesture. "The wings of darkness prepare to spread over the land. The war of the beasts is at hand, and we are to be the vanguard for the one she has chosen to be her Knight. She seeks to reclaim the Child that has been stolen from Her, and she asks our help."

In his mind, Genesis recalled how when the fire had swept through the forest between Nibelheim and Cosmo Canyon the Lifestream had risen up to put out the fires and purify the land of Jenova's taint and when it had washed out over the landscape it had caught Genesis up into its flow, washing him deep, deep down nearly to the world's core, where he had seen _her_, the very Goddess whom he had in his heart always served.

She had impressed upon him the importance of not letting the young Turk fall completely and forever into the darkness, and how the thing Hojo had done had been something that was never meant to be done. It was bad enough what Jenova's essence did to humans, who had for so long cut themselves off from the voices of the Planet and the Goddess' will that they were deaf and blind to them.

What it did however to those who still felt the Planet's ebb and flow. . it was like to giving a bird plastic in the place of food, it clogged their senses much in the way a bird's stomach would be by the refuse, starving off a very important part of them. That message was one he carried in his soul, and had shaken him down to his very core.

"What Hojo has been doing, and has done, is a crime against everything the ones who built this world stand for. They were protectors, builders, healers. Not destroyers. Jenova is the ultimate destroyer, she would take this planet and eliminate all life on it to use it too travel to the next world she would simply destroy in the same manner. It is what she does." All of this information, imparted to him by Minerva herself, one who would know better than any what they were dealing with.

The silver haired General's mouth drew into a narrow line, expression tense. "If I could not sense you were whole, if I did not know you as well as I do, I would believe you were rambling nonsense." Sephiroth's tone was firm and no nonsense, making it well known what he thought of what Genesis was telling him. "I believe you because I have seen the evidence in what happened to the boy, I trust you far more than I would that walking mass of complexes who has already ruined far too many lives, and took my true parents from me before I was old enough to realize that was what they were doing. No more."

"I thought you would say that, old friend." Genesis set a gloved hand on Sephiroth's shoulder. "I will not let what happened to us happen to the next generation of the three friends. Already the ripples of fate have begun to spread, and have turned it in a different direction than it might have once gone."

_I can't tell Seph he would have been the one in the boy's place, he'd feel horridly guilty at being spared that fate at someone else's expense. _Genesis thought to himself, and slipped back out, knowing that if he stayed he'd be caught. He had a mission, he could not afford to be caught.

Another three and a half years passed, fairly quietly, though there was a strange tension in the air. ..as if there was something just waiting to happen, to go wrong. Cloud had never let go of the hope that his lover might come back, and though people had tried to ask him out he'd turned down every single one, his loyalty and love to the boy he'd given his heart to back when he'd been a cadet still holding true.

Cloud and Zack both could scent it on the wind. .trouble was coming. "I don't know what to think. I can feel that things are going to be rough, and I don't know why. And it disturbs me." He shook his head, his hands going to his knees as he drew them up to his chest. The cadet had become a Third Class, then Second, though he'd never made First, Sephiroth had been his sponsor to even make it as far as Second, but he'd done well during sword training, and once he'd managed to get his body to accept the treatments he'd become stronger than any had imagined it possible he would.

"I know what ya mean." Zack set a hand on his shoulder. "But we'll make it through, right? It's what we always do." A smile accompanied the words, though he was not as confident as he tried to come across. It had been so long, and no one had seen hide or hair of the redhead in all of this time.

Deep in the deserts of Cactaur Island, a desert tribe flowed across the wastelands like a river, a man with an eerily familiar face at the head of the group. He wore a white dish dash to reflect the heat from his body, and a curved blade sword in a sheath at his waist. The desert animals carried them across the sands until they reached a recessed opening in what looked like a rock. "There." the man who lead the troop said.

Faruq had heard about the strange building inside their home,. and the Aibak Hakeem tribe that had lived in these sands for generations did not take kindly to strangers. "We will explore the place, and make sure that no one is there before we make certain that it can not be accessed again. I want nothing of ShinRa in our lands, at all." It took them about twenty minutes to get inside the complex, but when they did there was no power, and in the very back was a shattered tank, the fluid on the floor indicating it had only recently been broken. "It seems deserted. ..come, once we have left we will barricade the place. "

A blur would streak by them, though they would pass it off as a bird, it had moved too quickly for them to make out much more than a faint shape of black wing as it fled the place, though droplets of mako would spatter across their bodies and clothes as it passed. None of them had any idea of what they had just unleashed upon the world, what had been set in motion.

One of them who had been near the back swore in the musical language of the desert as he was splashed more than the rest with the viscous substance.

The first sign that something was amiss was the fire at the Junon reactor facility. When Tseng and Elena reached the underwater compound it was little more than a smoking crater full of water and debris, bodies floating to the top of the pot. "Oh sweet Goddess. .." The blond's voice choked off at the sight, this was her first mission after leaving the Military Academy, and it was the last thing she had expected to encounter during something that was supposed to be a routine security patrol.

"What happened here?" she asked her superior, noting how the dark haired man peered out over the remains of the compound as if looking for answers, for any sort of clue he could find as to how this had occurred. "This is. . .horrible, Sir. ..absolutely horrible."

Tseng was indeed looking for clues. He was cataloging every single thing he saw. "No sign of an explosive. . .as far as I can tell, the destruction was caused by materia. But there are very few people with the skill or power necessary to do so much damage. Perhaps one of Professor Hojo's experiments that were still stored here escaped. They would have the magical power necessary." he mused as he took stock of it. "It looks to be. ..fire materia. Or perhaps Bolt. A Bolt could have caused a short circuiting chain reaction that would have caused a fire. With the fuel and other supplies that are stored here a fire would soon have caused an explosion." An explosion, Tseng knew very well, would have wiped the entire compound off the face of the map with very little trouble whatsoever.

"Maybe." Elena didn't look convinced. The damage was far too focused for his theory to be correct. She was pretty sure it was a person behind this. .. not some runaway experiment. _But the only person capable of doing this whose whereabouts are currently unknown is one of our own. . .and I know that Tseng doesn't want to think about that possibility. I don't know the guy personally, he was before my time, while I was still in school, but I don't want to think about that either. _

"I don't think it was a runaway experiment, sir. This looks willful, focused, as if someone was trying to send a message. And I know you don't want to think this, neither do I, but how many people are capable of this sort of destruction? And how many of those have the freedom and a _reason_? We may be looking at one of our own who has done this." Elena's tone was gentle, but she could see in the stiffening of her supervisor's back that they had still h it him like a blow.

"But why now? Why wait. . .so long?" Tseng looked out over the destruction, still quite obviously in shock, though he did well at covering it, well enough that had Elena not known him as well as she did it would not have been seen.

"You told me the remainder of the Turks suspected he'd been a prisoner. If that is true. . .and he's been recently freed. . .he'd be very hurt, and very angry. Think of what someone you have said Reno is like in a state that hurt and angry and with that much power would do. ..would look a lot like this, wouldn't it?" Her words were musing, but sad.

"We can't tell the president about our suspicions." Tseng told her decisively.

"But sir, if we don't tell him. . .and this is allowed to continue, how many more people are going to die? We can't just let this go." Honey brown eyes widened in stunned amazement that Tseng would even say such a thing. .. the ever dutiful Turk that had served ShinRa's interests for years, practically turning against them? It was the last thing she had ever expected.

"Elena, I know you would not understand this, you are too inexperienced to have witnessed the dynamic as yet, but. ..we Turks are far more than simply ShinRa's loyal pack. ShinRa is our master, to be sure, but we've seen in nature many many times, and it is just as true of us. . .even the most loyal of hounds will turn on its master if one of its own pack is threatened." those obsidian orbs narrowed as he looked at her, deep in her own eyes. "That boy is the closest thing I have had to a son of my own. He is the closest thing I likely am ever to have to one. The President would send SOLDIER after Reno should he be told of our suspicions, and I will be damned if I let them mishandle this and Reno end up dead due to it. No, this will be done our way. This will be done the Turk way. Turks take care of their own."


	5. Chapter 5

_When you were standing in the wake of devastation  
When you were waiting on the edge of the unknown  
And with the cataclysm raining down  
Insides crying, "Save me now!"  
You were there, impossibly alone_

The cleanup of Junon began with Cloud and Zack being called in by Tseng to assist. He trusted that if they came to the same conclusion he had that they too would stay quiet, they had a vested stake in making sure the Turk was not killed in stopping him, and if it did become necessary. . .well the Wutain knew that Cloud would much rather handle it himself, no matter how it might haunt him, than let someone else do harm to the man that the blond still very much was in love with.

Cloud made a sound of shock when he took in the full extent of the devastation that had happened to the small fishing borough. The shaken survivors when asked told tales only of a red haired demon awash in flames, surrounded by the golden glow of electricity and eerie, mad laughter that had rung through the air as the demon had swooped down, causing explosions that destroyed all of it.

_How could he do this_? The question echoed through his mind, the blond's heart breaking knowing that this was the sweet, teasing and somewhat hyper young man he'd fallen in love with that had done this. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing, what he had heard, but there was no denying it. The descriptions made it obvious that it was Reno who had, and it tore his heart to shreds to realize it. But even as he asked himself the question, he knew. What had happened to the man h ad driven him over the edge into madness, and he was acting out of the terror, rage, and pain that was fueling him and would be until someone either stopped him, permanently, or someone managed to talk him down. If there was one thing Cloud Strife knew about Reno, it was that once he'd set his mind on something he did not stop until he was stopped. _I can't let this go on, but. ..I can't kill him. .. not as long as I still have hope that I might be able to bring him back. I love him too much not to give him a chance, no matter how slim that chance may be._.

The bodies were identified to the best of their abilities, then moved to a mass pyre to be burned. The flames rising up into the night added a somber atmosphere to the whole thing, and even Tseng, as hardened as he was, was forced to close his eyes and stop thinking. _I have done many things in the name of this company, but I think. . .it is time that things changed. Once we have brought Reno back under control._

"We will find him, I promise you." Tseng reassured the two SOLDIERS. "We will find him, we will stop him,. but we will not kill him. I brought you into this clean up because I trust you to remain silent on what has now become fairly obvious. The people here will be silenced through hypnosis, I will not kill if I do not have to, but I will not allow the news of this to get back to ShinRa. The course that the President set this company on is what caused this, I will not allow Reno to take the fall for it."

Rude was the one who had been sent out to hypnotize the survivors so that should ShinRa question them again their stories would all match up to say that it had been a tragic accident. ..a short in one of the control panels at the reactor that had created a chain reaction of destruction. His mouth was set into a grim line and some part of him that still held some moral fiber was horrified at what they were doing, but the part that believed they could stop this without killing a man he cared deeply for shoved that horror down into the deepest, darkest corridors of his mind where the screams of every person they had ever killed for ShinRa went.

It took a good three hours, but soon enough the bald man had completed his task and joined the others at the funeral pyre, the dark expression still resting on the tanned face. _I don't know how we're going to do this. Tseng has faith we can, but if we can't. ..can I bring myself to watch my partner, one I consider a friend and grew to care about, die? Or would I watch the world burn rather than let that happen? The scary thing is. ..I don't know_.

By the time the awful work was all done, the lot of them were dispirited, Cloud's head hanging, and even Zack looked as if he would rather be anywhere else than where he was. Blood was splashed on faces and clothes in carmine streaks from handling the bodies, exhaustion making shoulders slump and backs bow.

"I wonder if the President will even bother to rebuild this or if he'll consider it too expensive?" Zack asked, his mouth drawn closed in distaste. He was far from happy about what he had seen from the company he worked for over the past four years. . .ever since Banora, cover ups, intrigue, people being killed unnecessarily. .. the conquest of Wutai which at the time he hadn't questioned, but so much now he was questioning because he had seen how ShinRa handled things, more than he had ever wanted to.

Tseng made a snorting sound at that. "It would honestly not surprise me if he did, for him it's all about his bottom line, he cares little for what actually happens to the people that his demands harm or kill." It was something that he knew better than he wanted to, as he had had to be the hand that carried out the President's judgments on more than one occasion.

Such talk would never have happened before the disappearance of one of his own, but Tseng had become embittered knowing what the young man had come to thanks to the machinations of one that should have been let go a long while before he ran. Hojo was a madman, any other company would have put him in jail instead of hiring him.

_I don't care anymore. . .I will not speak such in front of him, because I need to not have my own head rolling before we can act. . but I will see the President fall before I let him harm Reno._

Professor Hojo had returned to his desert compound, only to find it sealed off and panic filled his mind. He had been discovered, and retrieving his specimen was not an option. The best he could do was destroy all evidence of the facility, his specimen with it, and start over, possibly with a clone, after all, he had collected plenty of the Ancient's DNA during the time he had had him, he'd have plenty to start over again with.

About twenty minutes later, an explosion lit the desert sky, blotting out the stars with its brightness, sand and stone flying in every direction to scatter across the ground. There would be nothing left of the building beneath the desert floor by the time it was done, only a shimmery surface where the sandy soil had been turned to glass by the heat of it.

Should ShinRa come looking, they would find nothing there, not even a hair or a flake of skin to alert anyone to his presence. He had no idea that his specimen had escaped, nor did he know about the desert tribes of the region who had been the ones to find and barricade his lab.

Those mistakes would cost the Professor heavily later on.

At the same time as the explosion on Cactaur Island, another shook the city above the plate, one of ShinRa's abandoned scientific facilities exploding into flame, Sephiroth had witnessed it from his office window, and as he turned to Tseng, his jaw clenched. "I know you were attempting to hide it from the President, but I don't think that is going to happen now." his words were drawled, his hand gesturing out of the window to where there was a figure backlit by the flickering firestorm, black wing spread to carry him away.

Though the SOLDIER was not one to show the greatest of his emotions, it had been trained and driven from him from a very young age, he could not deny that it had hurt him to see the boy he'd come to care for like a younger brother this insane.

Tseng's mouth opened, eyes widening and the porcelain skin going even more pale as the blood drained from his face, throat so tight that no words would come out for several moments. "Oh sweet Leviathan. . ." he finally pushed out in a ragged voice. The image of the young man that he had taken in from the streets with the mad gleam in the turquoise eyes, fire behind him hovering in the sky above the destroyed building, would be firmly implanted in his mind's eye for the rest of his life.

Worse still was the fact that his hair was now more silver than red, the carmine were streaks running through the gilt expanse of strands. A sign that he may not be savable soon. . .if things continued as they were going.

_My friend, the fates are cruel, there are no dreams, no honor remains_. The words from Genesis' beloved poem for some inexplicable reason he did not understand floated across Tseng's mind as the figure launched itself back up into the night to disappear once more, a single droplet striking the floor in front of him seemingly in slow motion as he placed his hand on the window, pain of heart so palpable it seemed almost physical raging through him.

But with the pain came a further determination. _I am going to save him. . . I will. Even if I must lay down my life, it will not be Reno who dies when all of this is said and done. The destruction will end, and I will get him back from this creature _

_he has become_.

Shoulder muscles flexed beneath flesh that felt almost as hot as the flames that had been left behind as the massive wing pushed the air down, bearing Reno away from the scene. The physical sensation barely reached down into the spinning hurricane that his mind had become, buried deep under the surface of Jenova's will.

For one moment, if anyone had looked, they would have seen a single tear that had matched Tseng's own, though the heat of the flames had licked it quickly away. The sign of the young man struggling to regain control of himself, though the shredded will and spirit, decimated by pain and by illness, were far too weak to do so.

For Reno, there was no more horrifying a thing than to have his will stolen from him, he felt sick, inwardly, at the things that his body had been forced to do. In his mind's eye was a darkness. . .long legs carrying him to try to find the light, but there was none to be seen. He staggered, and eventually fell, curling up around his knees and simply sobbing in grief, seeking a relief he was beginning to lose faith would ever come.

_It hurts. . .it hurts so bad, but I can't give in, yo. ..if I give in she'll hurt everyone I love, an' I can't let her do that. They're countin' on me_. That knowledge was what kept that flickering light that was his spirit alive, even when surrounded utterly by the deepest of pitch blacks.

Cloud had not personally witnessed the attack, but he saw the security footage of it later, shoulders slumping, back tensing, muscles quivering in reaction to everything that he had taken in. He simply shook his head, shock coloring his features the pale cream of a snowdrift as his senses reeled in disbelief. "No. . no it can't be. He wouldn't do this! It can't be him, it can't be! You're lying, I know. . .you're lying."

Zack felt his heart break at the denial from his friend, and the soft sobbing from Aerith in another corner of the room. He knew how hard this had to be for her, could read it in her defeated posture, in the way her head rested in her hands and even once the tears had stopped the way she refused to meet anyone's gaze.

_I failed you, Great Mother._ The words lifted from a burdened heart, Aerith's body trembling in an effort to get herself back under control, to hang onto hope that somehow, somehow they could still turn this around. She gasped, though, head popping up and body whirling at the voice that suddenly spoke up behind them.

"Listen to me." A black feather sailed across the room as the wing that even after his mending Genesis had never lost sprang free from his shoulder due to the force of his determination. "You can not lose hope! Is it bad now? Yes, and it is likely to get worse before it gets better, but if you lose hope." he looked at the flower girl. "Or live in denial of what is truly happening." the sky blue gaze flicked to Cloud "then you will lose the world too! Minevra has brought you all together for a reason. . .yes, Sephiroth, even you who were once one of Jenova's own, but to fulfill that purpose you must remain strong of heart, and be willing to face things as they really are."

He set both hands on Cloud's shoulders, and pinned the man in the eyes. "You must stay strong. I know Aerith has told you that you hold the fate of this world in balance, but you also hold the fate of the man you love in your hands, and if you lose your will now all will fall. It truly did happen, yes, but in a way you too are correct. The man that did those things? He is not the same man you fell in love with. I know what he is going through, because I have been through those fires, and come out the other end purified. He too can do so. But he can not do it alone."

Finally, a faint nod. Cloud was still reeling, how could he not be after what he had seen? But that matchless will, the desire to save the one he'd loved since they had been teens, flared to life in his breast again as the leadership potential that Sephiroth and Zack both knew he had possessed rose to the surface. "You lay it all out for me. Every single piece of information you think I'm going to need to make this work. Because if what you've said is true, I'll need to know everything that I can know. The last thing I want to do is fail him, I've done that enough."

"He has come to Midgar, as I know you have seen. The facility he destroyed was in Sector Three, we do not have full reports of causalities suffered from the attack as yet. " Sephiroth spoke the words in dry tones, looking from one to the other, as he kept his cool, burying the knowledge that as hard as they were trying to save the boy, killing him may become necessary. He acknowledged it, but it didn't mean he liked it, and he would do all that he could to prevent it. "But my suspicions are they will be fairly low, the compound has not been in use since the incident with which this began almost five years ago, and it is in a very sparsely populated portion of the sector."

He had no idea whether that had been by intent or not, but the SOLDIER did not think that would make one whit of difference to the President. "Kunsel and Luxiere have been ordered to take the army out to attempt to locate him, and they have been given a shoot to kill order. It would be in our best interests to locate him first, but he does, at least, seem to be fast enough that a SOLDIER catching him, unless it were one he would trust enough to approach, would be difficult."

"Thank all the Gods for that." Tseng confirmed. "Not that I believe they want to obey that order any more than we would. The tide is turning, the President is losing his grasp on things, and I believe he well knows it. That could be to our advantage. He will likely get desperate, and desperate people make mistakes."

Genesis nodded at that. "Indeed they do. I believe it would be to the advantage not only of the one whose life we wish to save, but the planet if could get him out of power as quickly as possible. He has ruled too long, and his rule has done too much damage."

"You find him!" The President brought both hands down on his desk, hard, making the pens on his desk jump, and then clatter to the floor as they were knocked off of it by the force of the blow. He was furious, it would cost him millions of gil to restore what had been destroyed, gil he really would rather not have to spend, but it was the loss of the Turk that a lot of time and money had been put into as well.

Kunsel and Luxiere flinched, President ShinRa's temper had always been horrible, and the fact that the two SOLDIERS hadn't been able to find Reno because the man was very good at doing the damage and getting the Hell out really had not helped with them catching him. _Not that either of us wants to fulfill the order we've been given, even if we can. He's as strong as a First, could likely match Sephiroth if his back was against the wall, I don't know what the President thinks he's going to accomplish sending two Seconds after him. _

"Yes sir." Kunsel said quietly as he did his best to hide his thoughts. He and Luxiere walked out of the man's office with firm expressions on their faces hidden under the helmets. They'd both taken to wearing the helmets more lately so their feelings would not be given away so easily.

The ancient temple that rested in the middle of the forest in Gongaga had called to Reno in whispers. ..Jenova's voice spurring him on to find the thing that would serve her purposes for the destruction that she sought. The Black Materia, the dark orb that would bring Meteor down upon the planet.

One of the leftover Genesis copies was used to solve the puzzles and retrieve the materia, though deep within a hunched figure sat with his head in his hands. _I don't want this_. But Reno was no longer in control, he had no other choice but to go along for the ride.

The onyx orb was lifted up as he flew off again, this time toward the North. ..toward the place where the most energy lay. _Soon. . .soon my child, we shall have our vengeance. . .and you shall be free_.

A rumble began from beneath the earth, cracks appearing in various places as deep within massive creatures began to awaken, WEAPONS to defend against the destruction that they could sense was to come. Many years they had slept, through the siphoning of the lifestream that ShinRa had done, but with Meteor having been removed from the temple the danger was too great for them to remain asleep.

Minerva's jaw was set, her eyes dark. _ This has gotten out of hand. Far out of hand. I do not know if I will be able to stop what will come before it is too late, but I will do what I must. Sacrificing one of the last two of my Children was never a thing I wished to do, but if I must. . .to save the entirety of the planet. . .then I must, no matter how painful it might be._

She would not until it became clear there was no other way, but as she bowed her head in sorrow she let herself accept that it was now a distinct possibility she may have to.

Aerith gasped, her head popping up as if she had suddenly heard someone speaking to her, words having been impressed upon heart and mind along with a sense of urgency "Zack. ..I have to go to the Ancient City. . .I have to go soon, very soon." She could not tell him what was soon to come, she had only seen images, pictures that told her where she needed to go, and that she was the only one who could do what must be.

The group had gathered in Elmyra's home, it had been the safest place for them to go to plan, as Tseng had to be there to guard over Aerith anyway, so there would be little suspicion raised in them being there. The remainder of the Turks, Rude included, had been dispatched by the Wutain in an attempt to track their comrade's movements, in hopes of finding him before Luxiere and Kusel did.

Cloud had wanted to do it away from HQ for that reason, as well. Kunsel was a gossip, as much as Reno himself had been, and he was not entirely certain he could trust Kunsel not to hunt down the redhead in order to fulfill the President's order. _After the destruction, I can't say I blame him. . .maybe we're the crazy ones, allowing this destruction to continue in the hopes of preserving Reno's life, but I can't simply not try_. _There's still hope. I know there is, I can feel it in my bones. It's not too late to save the planet without killing him. _

"Cloud, you should follow the Turks who went to try to find Reno, Zack will go with the girl." Sephiroth stated. "Meanwhile. . .there are others that can be contacted, that would have every reason to make certain that one of the Planet's own Children is saved. I must stay here and keep watch, to make certain the President does not put further manpower into this search, but I will be sure they are contacted. "

Buggenhaggen's mouth dropped open in an "o" shape of surprise when two infantrymen showed up at his door, even more so when the one that had been missing from the village for the past year strode up the stairs that were set into the side of the mountain in Cosmo Canyon where his house was located on all four silent paws,

Sephiroth had ordered him broken out of the lab while Hojo was absent, knowing that the sentient lion like beast would be his best hope for getting Buggenhaggen and the remainder of his students to help them protect one of the last two survivors of the Ancient bloodline.

"Hello, Grandfather." Nanaki's tail waved almost lazily, the ever burning flame on the tip of it glowing more brightly as his strength returned to him after being freed. "I know that you have been told many things of what has been happening. . .and I also know you've no reason to trust anyone from ShinRa, but we need your help, and the help of your students. The life of one of the Planet's own hangs in the balance."

Nanaki's tone conveyed his urgency as he relayed to his grandfather everything that he had been told. . .from Reno's fall, to his infusion with the SOLDIER treatment, to discovering that he was, like the young woman who had begun her own question to the White Forest in the north, of the ancient bloodline. How he had slowly begun to degrade, had disappeared, and then when he had reappeared his sanity had been entirely gone.

"The WEAPONS have awakened, Grandfather, and ShinRa has two SOLDIER searching for the boy. I know that you know what this means." The amber eyes met Buggenhaggen's. Despite his young age, Nanaki knew the Planet's seasons and movements well. . .he knew also how serious the situation was with the WEAPONS loose. It was very much do or die.

"Jenova is the enemy of all life." the old man confirmed. "The most foolish thing anyone could have done was bring that to the surface, but we all know most men do not have a great amount of wisdom." He reached a hand up to rub his bald pate, purple and blue robes rustling with his every movement. "I will go talk to Barret." he told the red furred beast that he had raised. "He trusts me more than anyone else."

"No, I want nothin' to do with those bastards after what they did to our town." The big black man crossed his arms, an expression of fury settling onto the bearded face even at the suggestion that he help anyone from ShinRa.

"Barret Wallace." Buggenhaggen's tone was gentle, a hand reaching out. "Think about what I am asking. Look past your anger, and your hatred of the company and contemplate your daughter's future should this not be stopped. Death is coming . .it will rain down from the sky like fire, I have seen it. The planet showed me, so that I could enlist the help of those who are in a position to act as eyes and ears for those who are fighting to _save_ it! If nothing is done, your daughter will have no future, because neither will this world."

Barret glared at Buggenhaggen, but finally just slumped, nodding. "All right. Tell me what to do." _It's for Marlene. I can't let anything happen to that girl, I promised Dyne, he deserves better than for me to fail him, even if I do hate the ShinRa. How one of the Cetra ended up workin' for those bastards is beyond me, 'specially as a Turk, but I guess a man's gotta do what he's gotta do to survive_.

Buggenhaggen shared all of the details of what he needed him and his friends to do, mainly watching out for ShinRa and tracking their movements so that the people they had working on finding Reno did not get caught, and then set a hand on Barret's shoulder. "Just think, there are some who want to make ShinRa better, who want to turn all of this around. You could be a part of that effort. Wouldn't it feel good to help them become something that no longer harms this planet?"

"I don't think it's possible." Barret muttered, not sure he liked the direction this conversation was going. As sweet a dream as it was, he didn't trust it because he didn't trust ShinRa, never had, never would. "Like to see it, but it'd never happen. Only reason I'm doin' this is for my Marlene."

Cloud's expression had been tense ever since they left HQ. His main priority, had been to find Reno, but the other rumors that had been floating around and the things both Genesis and Sephiroth had said stuck in his mind. _I know I'm not ready for this. How? How am I supposed to be some savior when I know, if things go wrong, I won't be able to do it? I won't be able to lift my blade to him. Anyone else, I'd be able, but not him_.

As if able to sense his thoughts, one of the troopers that had accompanied him set a hand on his shoulder. "Never gets any easier, does it?" The soft voice belonged to a young woman, her face well hidden beneath the mask. She lifted it off to reveal a fall of burgundy tipped blond hair.

The young trooper's name was Aliana Mitchell, she had originally joined ShinRa in hopes of sending money back to her parents in the wildlands outside of Mideel. Her original goal had been to join Turk, she had idolized the young man in the blue suit that had rescued her family from monsters, but she'd failed the psych exam for it and had been placed in infantry instead.

"The killing and the dying I mean. . .it never does. " Crystalline green eyes met his blue as she looked out over the horizon, the wind howling.

"No, it doesn't. If it did, I think we'd stop being human and become monsters ourselves." The words held a truth in them that he had not realized they did until he had spoken them, and his lips part in an expression of thought. "Especially when you love the one you may end up having to kill." He realized he'd given away more than he should, but he somehow thought. .. this girl might understand.

"You know. .." Alianna spoke quietly. "I'm here because of the one we're looking for. Five years ago, in Mideel, there was an infestation of monsters, and a group of Turks had been sent in to eliminate them and protect the townspeople. There was this boy, he couldn't have been more than fifteen, I nearly was killed by a Coeurl, but he leaped in and killed the Coeurl, saved my life. I joined ShinRa because of him. . .found out who he was later. "

A slight smile curved up her lips. "I found out that the fast, sweet, redheaded Turk that saved my life was Reno, I tried to join Turk because of him, and mustered out. He was my hero." She shook her head then. "Now, we're hunting him to try to keep the rest of the company from killing him because he's lost his mind and I don't know what I should think of that." Her eyes dropped, and she sighed. "I suppose you never really know a person."

Cloud looked over at her, sighing. "I suppose. Things changed fast but one thing hasn't changed. I won't let myself become a monster."


	6. Chapter 6

The figure kneeling in the center of the crater with the round gleaming orb of obsidian clutched in slender fingered hands was devoid of speech and seemingly of thought, eyes closed, carmine and silver strands being lifted up in a breeze that was magical in origin. Dark spirals wafted out of the materia, climbing up into the sky wrapping around with green, wending out into the star fill expanse about him.

_My child. . .soon. . .soon I will set you free_. Jenova's voice held a soothing tone as it spoke within the young Turk's mind, trying to assure him, though the spirit fought within. Fought to rise to the surface, to take control of his body back. The fragmented spirit was simply not strong enough, all he could do was watch in dull horror as the sky above the crater began to be tinted a dull red by the massive planetoid that began to approach Gaia.

Meteor was coming. . .slowly but inexorably surely. . and there was no way to stop it now. _I'm sorry, yo. . .so, so sorry_. The thought, echoing from deep within as he curled up to protect what of him was left, hoping beyond hope that when this was done. ..if somehow the world was saved. . .there was enough of him left to put back together again.

Mad laughter rang out from the crater as the heat and the winds began to kick up with it drawing ever closer.

Zack swore quietly, something he rarely did would show the severity seriousness of the situation, as he looked up at the sky about half-way through he and Aerith's journey to the Ancient City. The sunny sky had suddenly blossomed with violent ruddy streaks as if with the sunset, and the sun was still high in the sky. "That is so not good." He had very little idea what it meant as yet, after all, the thing would take time to reach them, probably a good few weeks, at least. The meteor would not even be visible in the more southern areas for a while yet, but it didn't mean he could feel the thrum of magic deep in his bones.

"Oh no." Aerith's face seemingly crumbled in on itself. She knew immediately, like an ill omen, what that coloration meant, and who would have cast it. They had to get to the city faster. ..but unfortunately they did not have wings, the next best substitute would be a gold chocobo, and those were not cheap. Otherwise, it would be the ferry. _And we have the time, but the longer it takes to get there, the more damage that may be done because we couldn't reach the city as soon as we should be doing so._

"I'd hoped. . .I'd hoped it wouldn't happen." she said softly. "Even though I knew it would. . .Minerva would not have pressed me to go where we are if it wasn't going to." Her heart seemed to be residing somewhere in the depths of her belly now, the sadness at the realization that it was her own cousin that had called down their possible doom making her want to scream and cry, but she was wise enough to know that tears would do her no good, even as much as she felt like breaking down into sobs.

"Zack. . .how am I supposed to protect him now? What he's done. . .if this world survives, all of them will be after his blood, how do we protect him from that?" Leaf green eyes were wet as she looked up at her boyfriend.

"Aer. . .we're not going to let anything bad happen to him beyond what already has, do you hear me?" Zack tilted up her chin, looking her in the eye, the normally sunny look on his face replaced by one that was firm and determined. "We are going to save Red, and we are going to protect him, no matter what it takes." he pulled her against his chest, looking down at her. She had held him after Banora, reassured him, just like this. He could certainly do the same for her. "I promise."

That promise drew a smile, and she set a hand on his chest. "I'm starting to remember, Zack, why I fell in love with you. I know you're going to keep that promise."

"You're damn right I will." then, the trademark cocky grin that had earned him the nickname the puppy returned. "He's your family, and he's my friend. Angeal would lecture me about honor if I didn't keep my friends safe."

Sephiroth's own stress levels had grown. He too had begun to hear the voice that attempted to encourage him into destruction, but he simply told the homicidal bitch in his head to shut up, stuffed her urgings into some dark corner of his mind, and got back to work.

Not that that helped with the headaches that were his punishment for his rebellion, but when she'd been something that mad scientist had inflicted upon him he had no intention of giving her or Professor Hojo either one the satisfaction of letting this. . .thing. ..push him wherever she wanted.

He was, much to the president's displeasure, attempting to track Professor Hojo down, hoping to eliminate that problem quickly. He'd sent his father out after that one, he knew that trying to stop the former Turk would be utterly useless, and the man had his own reasons to want the man dead.

The silver haired General had watched the surveillance video of what had happened to Valentine, and to be quite honest even if he did think he had a chance in Hell of talking Vincent out of trying to hunt the man down, on sole basis of what he had seen, he wouldn't have anyway. Hojo was an animal who didn't deserve to keep his existence, in the SOLDIER's ever so humble opinion.

_You realize, my son, that you were the one meant to do this. Your salvation came at the expense of that boy whose blood they seek_. The silky alto spoke in the back of his mind but he simply mentally side eyed her.

"The result will be the same. We will find Hojo, and we will save the boy. You will lose." Sephiroth's own tone was rather matter of fact. That that. . .thing. . .had deigned to speak to him to try to push him off the path he had set for himself only made him even more determined to deny her. For to deny her meant to deny Hojo, and the thought of denying the scientist made him very very pleased indeed.

A faint growl and another flash of pain through his head was the response, but he merely ignored her, willed it away as he had since he'd been a boy.

Vincent was perched up in a tree above the forested compound in which Hojo had hidden himself. He was just waiting. .. waiting for the proper moment to catch him. But he had no intention of simply snipping him and being done with it. Oh no, the ponytailed scientist had earned something far more than that, and besides, if he'd injected himself with some of his own experimental compounds who knew if a single bullet in the head would be enough to do that job?

_I'm going to force you to face the woman whose life you tore apart, to see what you did to her. . .then force you to face the man whose life you also nearly destroyed. They are the only two people that you somewhere deep in your craven, depraved soul ever cared about, and to be forced to see how much damage you have done before you are executed would be the best punishment I can think of._

Ruby red eyes peered up over the sights of the rifle, flashing to harvest amber for a moment as the demon inside spoke up. _He deserves death, little one. You know it as well as I. He carries the taint of She who wishes death upon this entire planet, keeping him alive only hinders its salvation_. The demon was one of the WEAPONS whose job it was to protect the planet, Vincent was not at all surprised that Chaos would speak up in favor of killing one of those who was a threat to the planet, though he shook his head.

"Death is too good for him. . .at least a quick death. He's done so much damage, he deserves to suffer before he dies." Vincent's lips pressed together as watched the man come out. As silent as death, he dropped down behind the scientist, the cold iron barrel of the rifle pressing against the back of Professor Hojo's head.

Hojo didn't turn, barely even twitched, when he felt the frigid metal against his skull, he did little more than blink, off balance laughter coming from him. "You know I should have simply left you dead, I think. You come to me, with a gun to my head as if it's a threat. But like all brutish thugs you fail to realize that killing me is not so easy as you believe. "

"Killing you isn't exactly what I had in mind." Vincent's voice was a drawl. "You have people you owe penance to, that can't happen if you're dead." Zip cuffs came out and tied Hojo's hands behind his back, pushing him back toward the helicopter he'd brought with him. His first stop would be the cave where Lucrecia had taken her final rest, the one where her spirit still slept.

"You need to see how your actions affected the only two people you've ever truly cared about." Vincent told him. "Not that I think you'd feel anywhere near bad about it." He truly doubted that the man had a conscience of any kind anymore, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.

"You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. " It was cliché, but Hojo really could care less "Lucrecia was a scientist. She understood that. Do you honestly think she's going to make me feel guilty for doing what had to be done to advance our knowledge?"

Vincent just shook his head, and they had soon taken off, heading for the first stage of what he felt was a fitting punishment.

The President looked out of the window with a worried expression. The first of the WEAPONS had invaded Midgar that morning, people had been driven from their homes, the city burning as roars sounded off the walls of the skyscrapers. _Midgar is falling. . .many would say this is my payment for the things I've done, and perhaps they'd be right_. The thoughts flashed through Rupert's mind as he finally gave the order "Begin evacuating. Get the citizens under ground and into the shelters."

"Yes sir." Rude's jaw was set. He knew who had caused this, and he knew the President now did as well. _No sense even trying now. ..it's come down to this and nothing we do is going to stop it. We can only hope Cloud can find him. . .and that he can successfully either reach him. . .or stop him. If not, this is going to get bad faster than any of us will be ready for and we're all dead. _

His heart hurt from knowing how badly things had gone, but the redhead was far out of his reach now. . .he could only deal with the aftermath. _I've known him for seven years. .but now I wonder if I knew him at all. _

The screams of the people as he evacuated them was punctuated by the crashing of concrete and the screech of metal as buildings fell apart, crashing into the asphalt, the cacophony creating a hellish scene against the city skyscape.

"Sir. . ." the bald man exchanged a look with Tseng, glad he had his sunglasses on with the look that was in the dark eye. "We've evacuated all of the survivors we could find." His breath seemed to freeze in his chest as he began to take a cursory count of the dead, bodies laying in the streets that ran red from the WEAPONS' rampage.

"Mister President, it's time for you to come to safety as well." Tseng said quietly after getting Rufus down through the tunnels and into the shelter. The people would be depending on them when all of this was said and done to rebuild. _If we were not in a time of such peril. . .I would think it better to simply let him die, but with this level of unrest, the time is not yet. _the Wutain thought to himself. There was too much happening, too fast.

The horror in Elena's honey brown eyes echoed the feeling in Rude's and Tseng's hearts, and as they finally got under cover themselves, he closed his eyes against the sound of her soft sobs from the back of the shelter, the ones that she tried so hard to keep from being heard.

Blond spikes were whipped around into blue eyes as Cloud reached the northern areas, where he felt almost as if he had been lead. . .only to be stopped by the dome around the crater that locked all out. He looked over at Genesis, the expression he wore one of questioning.

"There will be another way found to get in, there is no other choice." the rich voice came from the red furred lion like beast that stood next to Cloud. "You are the only one who has some chance of talking him out of this. If it's even possible now." Unspoken remained _And if he can not be. . .you know what you must do, and this is your moment of truth. This is where you decide whether the world survives. . .or whether it falls in flames. _

Cloud took a deep breath. He could feel the eyes on him and he murmured "This is it." His shoulders were set, body tense, eyes eagle sharp. The determination to stop the destruction was strong, as could be seen in the set of the shoulders as he and Genesis sought a way in.

"We need something that can penetrate the barrier, my spells are not doing it." Genesis turned his head to the blond as he spoke, lips pursed. What, he wasn't sure of yet, but they would figure it out.

The ride on the helicopter to where Vincent had stored the Gold he'd bought was spent in utter silence, as he'd expected it would be. Professor Hojo was not one who accepted defeat, especially his own, easily, and the ex Turk knew that the knowledge of what he would face could not be easy to take.

The waterfall filled the air with a fresh, clean scent as he gestured the other man to dismount the massive bird, the droplets misting into their hair as Vincent pushed Hojo in front of him. "Here. . .she's in here." he told the scientist. The entire cave was encrusted with crystalline structures that glinted in the beams of sunlight that filtered inside, and toward the back. . .an alter, made of the same hardened Lifestream.

Trapped inside the materia was a dark haired woman in a white gown, her hands clasped in what seemed to be prayer. Like Vincent, she had not aged a day. . .locked inside her gemstone prison. "Lucrecia. . ." For once, for this one single moment, Hojo's eyes were solely on the woman he married, no fascination with how she had come to be inside the giant stone in his posture or expression.

All of the emotion that he had shoved back and down into this tiny box inside of him after he'd learned of her betrayal of him with Vincent came rushing back, tearing like razors into his heart again.

_Simon_, the voice rang in his mind, sang through his heart. It had been far too long since he had heard it, and he closed his eyes against the way it tried to tear the protective shield of his cold bitterness away. _I know I've harmed you. . .I know that I betrayed you, and for that I can never apologize enough _

The head lifted, and Lucrecia met Hojo's eyes directly, her own sorrowful. _I gave you everything. . .to try to make up for what I did. My heart, my soul, my son. . .and then finally my life. _She could sense Vincent was there, but she was wise enough to know that he would understand this was something she had to do prior to dealing with her own apology that she knew she owed the former Turk as well.

_I harmed you too._ The words were not spoken, but felt, thought, deeply enough that the sorrow did not show on the impassive face, but when those hawk like hazel eyes opened, in their depths, it could be seen.

_What happened to you, Simon? What happened to the brilliant young scientist I fell so hard for? The one who wanted nothing more than to use the wickedly intelligent mind he was gifted with to improve the lives of the people of this planet? I never knew, I never understood. You started out as such a good man, and over the years you became this. _

"If I had the answers to that question, my dear, I would be a God, and as much as I want to make believe that I am. .. I know I am not." He set his hand on the crystal, wishing he could touch her. "I never forgave you for what you did with Vincent. But there's no need to tell you that, I know that you know it. But it didn't mean I stopped loving you."

The shield around his heart in tatters, Hojo stepped back, allowing Vincent to talk to Lucrecia as well. It was something that never would have happened thirty years before, but much had changed in those years, and face to face with her, seeing what he had done to her, he began to let the anger and hurt go.

_Vincent. . .my sweet guardian. I know I owe you an apology as well. I never told you what my child was to you, and I should have. That you had to find out in the manner you did is something I am having trouble forgiving myself for. That was my own sin, not yours. You must forgive yourself. _The words were equally full of love, and they made the bearer of Chaos lower his head, unable to meet her eyes.

"It's much easier to forgive others than it is yourself." he told her in a voice so soft that it was nearly inaudible. "You blame yourself for my demons, but those demons gave me the chance to meet my son, and to get to know him. And for that, all I can do is thank you."

_That one good thing came out of that disaster is enough_. A soft smile curled up the full lipped mouth as a sudden air of peace and perhaps even. . .forgiveness. . dropping over them. Something that Lucrecia was glad for if there was one worthwhile thing to come out of this.

_It feels good that Lucrecia was able to forgive me, but I know that Sephiroth will not be near so easy a sell_. Hojo's lips pursed at that. After Lucrecia had ripped the top layer of his defenses away he found himself wanting that forgiveness now, but he knew well how tall an order gaining it would be.

Sephiroth's jaw clenched as he fought down the feeling of helplessness. The Hero of Wutai, and he could not save any more people than there were inside the depths of this shelter. He could feel the eyes of the redheaded young woman that peered at him from the shadows, and he knew now whose space they shared.

_Deep Ground. . .the Lost Legion, the last bastion of Hojo's work. These soldiers are little more than children despite their ages, most of them have never once seen the sun._ "Rosso the Crimson, I believe." his voice captured the girl's attention.

"I see my reputation must precede me, if even the great Silver Demon of Wutai knows who I am." The accent was of one from Icicle, though Sephiroth knew well that Rosso had been born in Deep Ground and had never seen the surface.

"Not many are there in the higher ranks of SOLDIER that don't know of the legends of the Lost Legion. Though only one or two had access to the information necessary to put the pieces together in order to know who you are." Green eyes met ruddy red, a teasing gleam dancing in them. "I am somewhat surprised you haven't attacked us yet."

"You are Brother's friend. Zat makes you family and ve Tsviets do not harm family. It is all ve have." Sound enough logic from one who'd grown up her entire life only able to trust those few who had been fellow Tsviets, and had been indoctrinated to see Genesis as her eldest sibling. "Besides, it vould displease Weiss, and that is not a thing I vish to do."

"I suppose that would go for those under my protection as well?" Sephiroth asked her quietly. He wanted to be certain that none of the citizens who had taken shelter in the place to avoid the WEAPONS' attacks would be slaughtered in their sleep.

"It vould." she nodded. Rosso was fresh from the overthrow of the Restrictors, for her, Weiss' word was law. To Weiss, Sephiroth was a hero, one that the man had aspired to be like since he had been a very young boy. All of the Tsviets were aware of that.

"Good. Then tell Weiss that all of the people who have taken shelter here are under my protection. I will fight any who try to harm them. Go now, make completely certain that that is understood." The tone of voice was firm enough to make Rosso merely nod and scuttle away.

The silver haired male merely leaned back, satisfied in that at least he'd been able to utterly secure the safety of those he had saved, and perhaps, just perhaps, he could turn around the lives of the last of Hojo's victims.

A week passed, one marked by the massive asteroid entering the atmosphere enough that it could be seen even in the southernmost cities. The people stared up into the sky, most of them not knowing that it was their death floating up there.

Rufus swept his fingers through his hair, pushing the recalcitrant strands that continually fell in his eyes back off his face, staring his father down as Dark Nation, his black guard hound, paced beside him. "You can't just stand here and do nothing. This company is responsible for this, we hired Professor Hojo, and it was his experimentation which set the young man on his path. Hit me if you please, but denying the truth of it is impossible."

Rupert turned a scowl in the direction of his son, but no fists came flying. He knew the boy was right, but it galled him to have a twenty year old tell him so. "Well, if you have any bright ideas, share them."

"Use the cannon. It should be strong enough to pierce the barrier around the crater so that those who may be able to stop that boy and talk him down can enter." Rufus looked down at his nails. "By the way, does the name Eryn Kiribani ring any bells for you?" He noted the way his father's shoulders stiffened when he spoke the name. "I see it does. She was the fully Cetra mother of the young Turk you have been so determined to kill instead of reason with. The one that the scientist you hired, and even now have refused to fire, destroyed. How does it feel to know you've doomed your own son?"

Rupert gaped after Rufus as the young man simply strode out of the office as if he'd simply delivered a report on the weather instead of turning his father's world on its ear. _Why did Eryn never tell the boy who his father was? Why did she never tell me what she was? I married Mariana not out of love, but because Father foisted her on me. It may well have changed things, if she had told me, but it's too late now._ "Too late for me to change it. All I can do now is stay the course and hope that something of what I have built survives."

Reeve watched the activity of the infantry packing up the cannon from Junon, he had been sent to oversee the efforts of them, though he was quiet surprised to see the ones who had come to assist them. Dressed in leather and fur, some of them in the dusty brown cargo slacks of the miners from Corel, these people had no reason to help ShinRa, and he had to marvel that in some sense, for the moment they were all on the same side.

_Impending doom makes people who would never be in the same place together odd bedfellows, though I suppose we should be grateful for their help. Without it, it's likely that the cannon would not be able to be moved near fast enough to stop what we all now know is coming. _

"Be careful with that shit!" Barret spat out as one of the people he'd brought to help nearly dropped the chain. "We break dis, we don't get another chance, so for fuck's sake don't drop it!"

At the scolding, the miner scrambled to grab it and level the cannon back out to be loaded onto the truck. "Yes sir, Mr. Wallace." the dark haired man wiped his brow his hand on his pants while holding the chain between his legs so he didn't risk it slipping out of his grasp again.

_Thank God Marlene's stayin' with Tifa in Kalm. _Barret could not help but be glad he'd met the young bartender that had come to Midgar seeking out her childhood friend when she'd heard he'd finally made SOLDIER, though with the crisis at hand she had not yet had a chance to see him. He didn't think much of her taste in friends, but the young woman was a good sort, and she'd proven her worth when he'd come to Midgar himself to help Buggenhaggen and had stayed afterward.

The Seventh Heaven, resting within the slums of Sector Seven, had become home to himself and the young girl who'd been just a baby when things at ShinRa had first begun going down the toilet, about the same time her biological father who also happened to have been Barret's best friend had disappeared and it was assumed had died. Tifa had managed to turn the dusty bar into a thriving business, and then a true home.

_Kinda feel sorry for her. She's so in love with that damn kid, but his eye's always been elsewhere. Have to hate the Turk for breakin' that girl's heart if I didn't know whose blood he was, and if I didn't know he loved Cloud jis as much back_. The big black man with the gun arm's jaw tensed at that. He'd seen Tifa's tears, and heard the sorrow in her voice when she'd figured out that Cloud would never love her the way she wanted him to.

He shook away the thoughts and got the massive weapon settled into the bed of the truck. Under any other circumstances, he'd let ShinRa deal with its own messes, but no way could he take seeing Aerith cry, and if something happened to her cousin because they couldn't pull this out he knew damn well she would.

_Just hope to Gods this works._ was Barret's last thought as he chained the cannon down and the truck started. _For everyone's sakes_.

Zack's stance was straight as he shadowed the doorway of the house in which the altar rested, where his girlfriend knelt with the clear orb that had been nestled in the knot of the pink ribbon she wore in her hair, one that Zack had given her, held in between her delicate looking hands.

He closed his eyes, for just a moment, mental image of when they had met impressed upon his mind's eye. _I was so young. Not much older than Reno, maybe a year, and I fell for this girl, harder and faster than I ever expected. Can't believe I didn't realize what she was without being told, but I always knew she was special. Falling through the roof into her church was the best thing that ever happened to me, I can see that now_.

When Cloud had told him that the spunky, sprightly redhead he'd befriended not long after the boy had been recruited was his girlfriend's cousin hadn't surprised him as much as the spike haired SOLDIER had thought it would. _He always was kinda weird. . .a little otherworldly, and there seemed to be times he was listening to voices none of the rest of us could hear. But at the same time he was just. . .Reno. There's no other way to put it._

That too made Zack smile, as he gathered up all the memories of the people he cared for, wrapping them up into these packages in his heart so that if something happened to any of them they would be preserved. They deserved that.

"We're going to win." he said softly as a soft light seemed to come from Aerith while she knelt there. "We're going to fight this battle, and we're going to win. And when we do, we're going to bring him home. Safe, sane, and alive. I promised Cloud, I'm not gonna break that promise."

It would take time for Holy's light to fully shine, and even if it did work as it was supposed to, they still had to reach Reno, and prevent the army that had been sent after him from killing him, which would also be a feat until itself.

The young man was determined that it would happen and that he would be part of making it happen.

It was Rufus, not his father, who stood in the office on the seventieth floor of the tower headquarters of ShinRa Incorporated within Sector 0 of the massive city of Midgar overlooking the installation of the Junon Cannon. He closed his eyes as he realized that the one who built it was dead, and when he opened them again, the thought stuck in his mind.

_It seems we owe you a debt, Director Scarlet. The weapon you designed will contribute to our salvation. I wonder what you would think of that? Would you be proud, or would there be a sense of dismay that someone else is going to get the credit for it? _ The last earned a smirk, he did have a feeling he knew exactly how she would feel about that, but he would pay her enough honor to give her the recognition she deserved for that.

_My brother taught me that it was not a good thing to speak ill of the dead. So I will not. I suppose we owe her for this as well. _

He turned to Reeve, the man had been a godsend so far as making everything that needed to happen for the cannon's set up and for getting the power needed to make it work. "As soon as it's fully powered, aim it north." was all he said to the man. The robotic cat that accompanied the architect and cybernetics expert nearly everywhere sat atop his shoulder, the cameras in the dark eyes recording every nuance, every movement.

"Yes sir." Reeve's dark eyes turned from Rufus back out of the tower's picture window, the knowledge of the fact that if this didn't work everyone was pretty well screwed uppermost in his mind. His fingers danced over the keyboard, working to get the cannon powered up so that they could get the shield down.

_Here's to hoping everything goes according to plan, because I like my world not flattened and full of holes, thank you very much_. Sarcastic thoughts, and yes, Reeve knew it, but that sarcasm is what had kept him sane for so long having to work with the ones he did. The bearded jaw was clenched, and he was glad that Cait had the sense to stay quiet, the AI could be somewhat annoying at times when he got off on a tangent.

The meeting in the old cavern had gone better than Hojo had expected, but having to wait to talk to Sephiroth because the man had been insanely busy trying to combat what was coming had made him a bundle of nerves, even if he did not want to admit to that. He waited outside the door to the silver haired General's office, wondering what the man was going to say when he had to face him.

_It isn't like "sorry I tortured you for the sake of my research in hopes of improving this world" is going to be helpful._ the thought made the scientist snort. He knew well how unforgiving Sephiroth could be, at this point he wanted to get this so called "punishment" done with, get Valentine off his back, and return to whatever life he might have left.

_Not that that is likely to be much if the young Cetra gets hold of me, but I have my own backup plans should that happen_. He smirked. Hojo had never been one to not have a backup, and he wasn't about to start with his life dancing in the balance.

"Come in." Sephiroth's dry voice reached out into the hallway, he'd returned to the Tower for supplies and to act as a contact point for any other survivors in order to lead them below ground, but when he'd gotten the phone call from his father he honestly had not been entirely certain what he should think. Hojo, trying to bury the hatchet with him? Preposterous.

And yet here the man was, striding into his office with that emotionless face. "I've been to see your mother." were the first words out of the Professor's mouth, and the tense set of his shoulders would tell someone who knew him that that had affected him. "She wants to see you, when all of this is over and done."

Silver brows lofted. Sephiroth honestly was not certain what to say in response to something like that, so he stared at the scientist as if to tell him to continue. He wouldn't know exactly how to react until it was done.

"I know I've done some terrible things to you. I want you to understand it was not with the intention of cruelty, though I suppose I can see why you would believe it was. I am not sorry for the motivation for it, because it was with the intent of improving the human race, but I am sorry that it brought harm to you." it was as far as Hojo would go in apologizing, to anyone, even the boy he'd raised as his own son in the awkward, messed up way that he had, and he strode out directly after, leaving Sephiroth to merely blink at the door he had walked out of.

"Father. .. did he just. . .apologize to me?" he said to Vincent, almost warily, still not entirely trusting what he had heard.

"He did. And I think that is the best you're going to get, so. . .appreciate it." Vincent watched the man's retreating back, he too was having his own trouble believing that Professor Hojo had actually gone through with it. And with that he stepped out after the man, making certain he wasn't allowed to simply leave.


	7. Chapter 7

Deep in the crater, a slender body was laid out on a bed of rock, curled up on his side as if in a tiny ball, and he dreamed. Once Meteor had been summoned, Jenova had lessened her hold to some small extent, and allowed her vessel to drift into sleep. It drew a small chuckle from the entity as she watched the dreams like a film reel rolling out.

_"Come, Remi," The woman took the young boy's hand and lead him into the church, hair melting from blue black to a brilliant vermillion and her eyes from a soft lavender to aqua as the glamour she'd been wearing faded away, revealing the Cetra woman's true appearance. "I have something I want you to see." _

_The young boy scampered behind her, letting her lead him through the junk filled streets of Sector Five and toward a building that seemed to almost glow in his mind's eye. He let go of his mother's hand as he stared up at the edifice, the stained glass brightening the slum around it in an almost etheric light. _

_"whoa. .. " the word slipped from the boy as he looked up, taking it all in. It seemed to call to him, to resonate in his heart and spirit, the light that came from it. _

_"This was built by my people. .. a people that are also your own. It has stood, unblemished but for the roof, even with the city being built up around it. My mother brought my sister and I to see it on our seventh birthdays, before this city became Midgar, and now I am bringing you. It was considered a rite of passage." Eryn smiled down at her son. He was the only child she would ever have, and she treasured him. _

_As he stared and drank in the aura of the place that she had brought him to, she unhooked the golden chain with the dragon claw setting from her neck, and fastened it around his own. Like Holy, the Phoenix had traditionally been passed from mother to daughter, but Eryn Kiribani had never been a traditionalist anyway outside of these few she deemed worthy. The trip to the church had been five years late, but there had been no help for it. The risk of leaving Sector Seven and getting caught here had been too high. _

_The feeling of skin-warmed gold against his neck made him look down, and he looked up at her questioningly. "Momma, this is. . .are you sure ya wanna give this to me? I know how long you've had this, an' it's precious to you." The youthful redheaded boy that looked far younger than his twelve years was blown away by the gift he'd just been given. _

_"This has been passed down from mother to child for the last one hundred years or possibly more. " Eryn told her son, a smile touching her lips. "It's time for it to be yours." After a bit it was time for them to go home. _

"No, I don't wanna remember this." in his deep sleep, the voice was soft and ragged, eyes still closed, though the lids fluttered with his effort to wake because if he woke he would not have to relive it.

_Your efforts, child. . .so useless and pitiful. I have won, accept it. The sooner you do the easier it will be on you_. Jenova's laughter was bright as she made a motion inside of the boy's mindscape as if to soothe him, to quiet him. _It will be over, and you will never have to live with those memories again._

Weiss' lips narrowed as he heard the destruction above. Brother's orders, ones that he had finally heard directly, granted through a phone, had been to protect the people within Deep Ground's stronghold, but with the WEAPONS still rampaging it was becoming more and more difficult to do.

The rattling of the ceiling above them on the upper levels had forced them to retreat deeper, approaching what had once been the Restrictors' quarters. _No where will be safe soon if this continues_.

He did not yet know about the threat that hovered in the sky above them, which was fortunate. Not knowing left him more able to focus on the task at hand. Not that it was easy.

_I will not disappoint Brother. . _a pacing movement, a snap turn, and then those eyes as blue as a glacial expanse peered over the group of people that he now claimed as belonging to him.

"Sir, it's at full power." Reeve turned to Rufus as the numbers indicated that the cannon was ready to fire. The distinct absence of the President left the architect feeling a bit disoriented and wondering just what had happened that his son was dealing with everything that needed to be done.

Rufus nodded, and bent over Reeve's shoulder, slender fingers quickly typing in the coordinates for the Northern Crater, listening to the hum of the energy building up inside the massive weapon, all of it aimed at the barrier around the place where their target rested.

The sizzling beam shot out, making the entire building shake as it launched, raw power aimed into the snow laden country searing the sky white as it went.

Cloud gasped as he saw the ray fly overhead, only knowing that it would not be aimed for he and Genesis. The two had been camped out in Icicle, the beam shown like a speeding aurora before splashing like a wave against the shimmering shield that could be seen even from where they were, light flashing and flaring as a hole formed in it before it shattered in a shower of sparkling shards that scattered all over the ground around the massive hole.

Genesis' brows both went up, and then he grinned. "It looks like they have indeed found us a way in." He slipped Rapier onto his back, making sure it slid easily into the sheath slung across the back of the red leather coat, and strode toward the opening that had been created, purpose in each and every step.

The blond was right behind him, the specially made Buster like fusion blade swung across his own back and a look of fierce determination settled across his features. _I won't lose you. I refuse. I may have to fight you, but I'm not going to allow you to die, not for this. I'm going to save you, no matter what I must do in order to do so._

The approach from the two was quiet, hoping not to alert the former Turk that they were coming. What they had not counted on was Jenova using Reno's keen hearing to guard against intruders, and as they got inside the slender male that had been fast asleep slunk to his feet in one smooth motion, the blade that he'd been taught to use making a distinct _shick_ sound as it was slid from its sheath, the eyes hollow, empty, and a gleaming emerald, with slitted, cat like pupils.

"He's mine now." the voice that came from that slim throat was Reno's, but the tone and inflection certainly was not. "He is mine, and he has already done what I bade him do, it is far too late to stop it." 

_Trust me, my children_. The voice that rang through the minds of both Genesis and Cloud was one that Genesis at the least knew quite well. _I can not predict what will happen this day. . .but trust that I will not let any sacrifice be in vain_. The words were warm, almost like a mother's caress across their senses.

Heat seemed to rise through the cavern as the ground cracked, green streamlets that looked almost as flames roaring up out of them when the young Turk threw himself not at Genesis, but the blond Second.

Sparks danced across the steel of entwined blades, Cloud bringing up his own sword to parry the blow that Reno, or rather the creature who controlled his body, had attempted to land on him. "You won't have him, Jenova." spiked golden strands swayed in the heated air, glowing blue eyes narrowed in a fiery determination born of a singular will, that which had lead him to without hesitation make the promise to his childhood friend to come to her in time of trouble, that to protect those he loved most. "He's not yours, he belongs to _himself_, but I am going to take him back from you."

There was a flinch, a hesitation, from the lean body that held the katana, and the eyes flickered from emerald to gleaming aqua for several long moments as Reno fought his way past Jenova's control, two words coming from his mouth, ones he knew that Cloud would disagree strenuously with, but there was no other way. "Finish it."

The fusion sword almost dropped from suddenly nerveless hands, Cloud shaking his head, mouth dry, throat tight as he tried to squeeze the only two words that he could get out past the lump that rested in it. "I can't."

Those eyes, those beautiful, expressive eyes that were the first thing Cloud had fallen so deeply in love with begged him to not refuse. . .begged him to free Reno from the horror of the monster's control.

A thick swallow, followed by a faint nod as the eyes flicked from teal to the bright acid green of Jenova's control once more, the pleading expression becoming a sneer. "Match me." the challenge in the words was clear. "If you believe you can."

Blades clashed together once more, with those streamlets of mako that looked like flames as backdrop, bodies tense and taut, Cloud's jaw tense as he fought to defeat Jenova without mortally wounding her vessel.

Reno's body went still for a moment, and no one would be able to say if it had been Jenova momentarily tiring, or Reno beginning to regain control, but in that pause the slim form fell onto the Fusion sword, the massive blade running straight through him, breath choking in lacerated lungs, the black jewel that had still been clutched in the off hand clattering along the rocks in nearly the same manner as Holy would have, and eerily Cloud got a vision of what would have been, superimposed over the scene, as Reno's eyes shifted back to brilliant teal, and he mouthed the words _thank you_ as his body sank to the floor of the cave.

To those with the senses to hear, a howl of rage would ring in mind and heart as the Dark Goddess fled her dying vessel, the silver in the crimson hair retreating, sliding back up the strands as if it had never been.

Cloud dropped to his own knees, eyes filling, body trembling as he lifted up the slight form, tears washing over him. "I'm sorry." he choked out the words. "I promised I would protect you, and I failed you."

Genesis didn't try to take the body from the blond Second Class, he knew, knew very well, that it would not help the boy one bit should he do so. He couldn't say _Reno wanted this_, he knew that wouldn't help either, and reminding Cloud that he'd saved the world with his actions would just make it feel like a hollow victory. Instead, he set his hand on Cloud's shoulder in silent communion and grieved with him.

Neither of them wanted to point out that the body would need to be buried, and both of them merely knelt there, comforting each other, as a sudden gleam shown on Reno's left wrist. Cloud blinked, wondering for a moment if he was seeing things, while green rivulets wound from the red stone that hung from the chain around the redhead's neck, becoming fiery reds, yellows, and oranges morphing into the shape of a massive bird.

Phoenix's great amber eyes peered down at the three as the summon breathed out a massive gout of flame, yet the flame did not burn, instead winding around the three figures in a warm caress, the cuts and bruises that those who still lived had earned in the trip down into the crater, while the body that had rested in Cloud's arms was lifted, embers seeping into the huge wound the blade had created and beginning to seal it closed.

Color returned to snowdrift pale cheeks as the slight frame was lowered to the ground again, a choking noise, blood being coughed up from newly healed organs onto the ground before a great heaving breath was taken, a groan sounding as the same question that had entered his mind when this whole thing had started again floated across Reno's consciousness. _How am I. .. alive? I should be dead, I got run through by that fucking dinner plate of a sword, there is no way I should be alive_.

_The prayers of those who love you have been heard, my child. _That voice, warmer, and Reno could feel the affection in that tone, as in his mind's eyes a white-clad, golden haired figure with dancing green eyes appeared, and Reno knew immediately who this was, a hand reaching out for her. Minerva. . .the Goddess who had blessed his ancestors with her hand, taken them into her bosom and made them her own. _Phoenix, the spirit of life, death, and rebirth answered their cries. _

"Oh, thank all of the Gods." Cloud swept Reno up into his arms once more, and looked him deep in the eye, his own serious, before he spoke in a firm tone. "Never, ever scare me that way again." he told his lover before his lips locked down over Reno's, passionate, possessive and fierce.

"I can't promise I'll never scare you again, yo, but I can promise it won't be like this." Pale lids fluttered open and Reno met Cloud's eyes with his own. "She's gone, yo. I still have the cells, I'd need a whole new body to get the cells out, but the taint, the control. . .s'gone." He took a deep breath, marveling in that knowledge. "I'm free, yo. Free. . .because of you."

But that joy may have been very short lived. . .for meteor still floated in the sky above them.

Zack, in a word, was tired. Though there had not been any human attackers, several beasts had broken their way through the barriers he'd erected, believing they had found an easy morsel in the Ancient girl and her SOLDIER protector. _I hope this works, because that damn rock is getting closer and if it doesn't wreck the place the WEAPONS that are still on the rampage will_.

Cinnamon colored hair gleamed with red highlighted due to the crimson tinged sky overhead, the massive stone that had the appearance of secondary moon close enough now that it had begun to throw off the tides, Junon had been evacuated due to the tsunami that had rolled in. The peoples' lives had been saved, but the town, from what they had been told, was a total loss, all of the homes destroyed by the water that had flooded in.

_Mother Gaia, I know you have heard our call_. Aerith's heart had felt the outflow of power from the core of the planet itself, channeling over and through her into the spell that was slowly working its way up out of the earth to fend off the darkness that had been called.

_Meteor had its place, my child_, the voice replied to her. _To cleanse the space of the planets whose time had come. But Gaia's is not yet. Jenova has fallen, but the damage she would do must be prevented, your prayers and the power they wield is our last line of defense. Use them well_.

The fervent prayers rose up higher, and slowly, very slowly, began to weave around the massive stone.

As the WEAPON attacks ceased, the great guardians being called off when Minerva had told them that the protection of the Planet was no longer up to them, but to the team that she herself had chosen, that they would be the ones to assure its survival, those who had taken shelter in the underground came to the surface once more.

That included those of Deep Ground. Weiss gathered Rosso, Azul, Shelke, and his beloved brother Nero telling them in his typical purr growl "If this is to be our last day, we will face it under the open sky, in the sun, not groveling in our tunnels like rats."

All of the people that had been in the underground shelters looked up into the sky, Sephiroth had felt a tingle down his spine at the moment Reno had been killed but he'd not realized it had been Jenova being banished from her vessel and fleeing Gaia, her sister had won and it would take years for her to have the strength for another try.

Their vision was filled with a sky that looked as if it was on fire with the burning ball of the sun to the right of the giant rock that was pushing its way through the atmosphere. The wind began picking up, swirling clouds beginning to funnel, touching down and destroying whichever buildings they landed on. It was a terrifying and awe inspiring sight, and while the citizens screamed and began to run back under the ground, the Tsviets merely looked up at the sky, taking every single blow from debris with a grin.

Rude had begun to help direct the people back below, for all the good it would do, when he looked up at the sky with a gasp. A white ring had surrounded the asteroid, and shortly after the ground cracked open, and he could hear the whispers of spirits across his consciousness as the first green wisp raced by him, brushing against his cheek as it did so.

A second, then a third, joined that first small amount of Lifestream, as it began winding up from every portion of the planet, wrapping around the planetoid, surrounding it like blanket, and then beginning to tear into it in the manner of a coeurl's claws.

The dark eyes went wide behind the lenses of his sunglasses as he watched, amazement playing across the rest of his features as well. "Well, I'll be damned." he murmured. He could feel the Tsviets milling about around him as the sky cleared, tiny portions of the asteroid that had nearly flattened most of the surface of the planet falling through the sky like a star shower as Holy's power tore it to pieces. Rude had never seen the like of it before, and he was sure he never would again, but he was glad of the threat being gone.

Nero's bandaged face lifted toward the sky, a hand reaching up as if to touch it. It was the first time in his life he could remember seeing the sun, and for a teenager who had been stuck underground his entire life under the grasp of the restrictors it was an amazing experience, one that he would not ever forget for the remainder of his life.

There were murmurs from the people about how the world had been saved, wanting to know who had called the phenomenon that had protected them. They were quiet, for now, but would be taken note of.

Rosso just smiled feeling the warmth fall on her upturned face, the light making her red hair gleam with blond and orange highlights that were never seen in the darkness below. She looked much as the young girl that could have been before she had been so damaged, for this one single moment, free from the fetters of her mental wounds and the underground prison which had been her life since her birth.

_I want to help make life better for these people whose lives the company has damaged_. the bald man thought to himself, turning back as he heard Tseng come out of the underground as well, blinking as he looked up into the suddenly clear sky.

A slow smile crept up onto the wutain's face. He knew that it had to have been Aerith's efforts that had turned everything around, and he was grateful to her for it. _I will have to thank her, and thank Zack for protecting her, when they both return to the city. I will do all in my power to assure that she is never in danger from this company again, we as a world owe her that much for saving us all from the destruction that would have otherwise been our lot were it not for her. _

Rufus stepped out next to Tseng, and the Turk's Vice Director could not help but marvel that he was still shockingly unruffled, his hair still in nearly perfect shape, and only a few smudges of dirt on the gleaming white coat and pants. The look of determination on the man's face spoke of possible changes to come, however, and right now Tseng trusted him, implicitly, due to his decisive actions during the crisis that had just been averted.

"I'm going to make this better, Tseng." came the soft promise from the young blond. "I'm going to keep this company from running the world into the ground, I owe the one who saved us all that much. I'm just not sure how yet." Nearly dying changed almost anyone's perspective, and Rufus was no exception to that rule. His mind began to click over plans for taking ShinRa from his father and turning everything around.

Zack's mouth quirked up into his almost puppyish grin as the skies cleared and the pattering sounds of the meteorites that were the remainder of the giant space rock pattered against the roof of the house that held the alter Aerith had been praying at.

The knowledge that the last major crisis had been averted and they could now act to improve the lives of everyone on Gaia suddenly seared through his consciousness and it made the smile wider still.

"Aer. . .Aer, you did it." he fist pumped, wanting to hug her but he waited, waited until she stood, because accidentally knocking her into the water wasn't something that would fly with his girlfriend, and he knew it. But the hoot that followed that exclamation told clearly of how he felt.

Aerith finally opened those round leaf green eyes, wiping the sweat from her brow as she took the orb that she still held between her folded hands and tying it back onto the ribbon that she wore wrapped around the top of her braid. Zack's words pulled a smile onto her own face, and she laughed as when she stood he threw his arms around her and spun her around.

"The world's safe again." she said. "Now. . .I want to see how my cousin fares. I was so worried about him when he started to fall. . .now that the darkness is gone I want to find him, and to see if he has survived." Those eyes met Zack's, melting in their desire to be certain of her last blood relative's safety.

"He'd be further north. .. about one hundred miles or so. It'll take us some time to get there, but I'll take you. . .if he and Cloud have not already begun to return to Midgar." Zack peered up into the sky, the sun gleaming down on them making him smile. "This battle is won, but I have a weird feeling. . .the war's not over."

Aerith merely nodded. She knew that Zack was likely right, which meant preparing so they could win the war as they had this battle. She just hoped that there were not too many causalities when all of it ended, and that the better side of the conflict won that war.

_The world can not afford for the wrong side to win when there are still lives hanging in the balance even now. But the question is, which side even is the right one anymore_? The question was one that she did not have an answer to, and she shook her head and shoved it out of her mind as she picked her things up, beginning to pack up and head north, hopefully finding her cousin alive and well. _I suppose we'll have the answer to that as time passes. _

Her staff was lifted back into her hand, her materia set into the slots, and her item pouch tied around her waist as she turned back to Zack. "Let's go."

The First Class nodded as they strode out of the massive shell like home and began to make their way north.

As Reno finally, after a short rest, recovered his strength the three made their way out of the crater, the snowy plain windless and silent as a few flakes drifted down out of a sky that was clear of the red color and a bright blue aside from the few steel colored clouds that dropped the tiny ice crystals down onto them.

He let out a bit of a laugh and opened his mouth to catch a few of the snowflakes. "Momma said she used to do this when she was little. . .when she used to live up here. The air and the water were always so clean. . .food was hard to find sometimes, 'cause it was so cold all the time, but livin' so close to where you could hear the voice of the Planet made her happy." he sighed, looking down even as they got ready to move out. "She was so unhappy by the time I was born. . .an' I used to blame myself, an' think it was my fault. But now I'm startin' to understand, she couldn't hear Minerva's voice anymore, too many people, alla these minds that just drowned it out."

The slender body turned, teal meeting blue dead on as Reno tried to think what to say to Cloud now. The man had believed in him, stuck with him, through the worst he could throw at him. How to thank a man for something like that? He wasn't entirely sure. But that was taken out of his hands by the SOLDIER himself, who pulled Reno into his arms.

"You don't have to thank me." Cloud murmured as he held his lover close. "I did for you the same thing as you would have done for me, had our positions been reversed." He just laughed softly as Reno began to protest, and set his finger on the lush lips. "I protect what's mine, even if I fail at it sometimes."

Reno had felt that odd sense of dissonance, _When was Cloud this confident_? but he shook it off fast. The shy young boy that had joined ShinRa to become a SOLDIER like his hero had grown up, due to the things he had been through, and that growth had brought a confidence he would not have otherwise had. But then he grinned, that insolently teasing grin he was so well known for, and he looked Cloud in the eye. "Gonna hold you to that, yo." he said playfully before kissing him, barely noticing the other SOLDIER's presence.

Genesis made a faint gagging noise, dramatized because he didn't dislike either of them, and with a bit of teasing to it. "If you two are done trying to suck each other's faces off, we should probably see how the rest of world fared after all of that insanity."

Reno turned with a bit of laughter, shaking his head. "Yeah, Yeah, I know. Give me a few hours, I should be up to travelin' back. Aerith is probably worried as Hell, she always did worry a lot."

Cloud blinked as he felt the phone at his hip, the one that even through the fight had managed to remain undamaged, vibrate, the signal of an incoming text. _Cloud, need you guys location, Aerith wants to check on you but don't wanna make a one hundred plus mile trip for nothing._ It was of course from Zack, and he couldn't help the smile that curved his lips. "Well, we know at least two that are all right." he lifted up the phone to show the other two the text.

Reno chuckled softly, putting aside thoughts of the future for that moment and focusing on his loved ones. "Text her and let her know if she wants to make the trip, we'll wait for her, yo. I don't mind waitin' a little longer when I know I'm still not completely up to the return trip. "

In all honesty, he was almost afraid to go back. The fact that he had nearly destroyed the world was not lost on him, even though it had not been truly his fault or anything he would have chosen, on his own, to do. _The people are gonna want my head, if they figure it out, an' ta be honest I don't blame 'em. I'd want my head too. _But he forced a smile and tried to push the thoughts aside.

Rupert ShinRa was not happy about the crowd that stood outside of his office, people demanding answers, and demanding recompense for the damage to their homes and lives due to the meteor incident. They also wanted someone to blame. They always wanted someone to blame, and his mind clicked over which ones should be put about as being at fault.

_Give them someone to hate, it will calm the populace and prevent insurrection. The world needs to remain calm so that rebuilding can happen. The last thing this company can afford is another war_. Blue eyes narrowed as he peered out at all of the people, the President lifting his hands in a gesture of appeasement. "I know that you are worried about how you will live with your homes destroyed, but worry no more. ShinRa will take care of you." he assured them.

"I need you to find Reno." He told Tseng. "The boy is the one that created the problem that put the world in this state, and the people are demanding justice." His stern expression settled onto the Wutain Turk in a way that would brook no disobedience or complaint about his task. The President would make an example of the man that had wrought the destruction that had caused their losses, and in doing seal his hold on his position and his people.

Tseng's jaw set, and he wanted to ask the President if he really thought that was such a good idea, to track down a well liked Turk, but the expression on the man's face said it was not a very good idea.

He simply nodded sharply and strode out, though he had other places he had to go and people to talk to before he even thought about obeying that order. The first would be to the Vice President. Rufus would want to know about this, so that something could possibly be done to keep the free spirited redhead that his comrades adored alive.

Rufus looked up as Tseng approached, glacial blue eyes widening in curiosity as he spotted the Turk Vice Director. Tseng had been one of the last people he would have expected to see with the company in shambles. "You look concerned." Rufus had immediately noted the expression Tseng wore, and the way the dark eyes were narrowed, something about his stance telling the Vice President that things were not as they should be.

"Your father has given the order that we are to find Reno, and I suspect he is to be executed in order to soothe the populace so that he may keep his hold on his company. I for one would rather not see that happen. For one, what happened to him was not his fault, nor was what happened to the world as a result of what was done to him. For another. . .he is one of the last two of the ancient bloodline, to squander that due to circumstances that are as much this company's as his own would be a sin. " The well shaped mouth thinned, the expression going cold.

Rufus' face filled with rage, pale cheeks going pink as he let forth a growl much like that of his guard hound. "I will do all I can to make certain that your mission fails. Do not worry in that regard. But I believe that Father has been in power far too long. I have already lost one brother to the SOLDIER desertions, I will not lose another because my father is too much the fool to see when should use the power he has in his hands to protect his own instead of bartering away their lives because he fears the masses." Though it was true that the young man would be good to his people, it was also true that he did not sway the masses with money.

"I intend to make this mission as unsuccessful as possible, but I will need time. . .and I intend to give you time to plan whatever move you have in mind to make." Tseng had made certain there were no listening devices in the room before this line of conversation had even begun. His paranoia had saved his skin more than once, and he wasn't about to not employ it now when it was likely a necessity to protect he and Rufus both.

"Go, Tseng. Tell Sephiroth I need to see him as soon as possible. You know where I want him to meet me, in our own special place outside of the tower." It was a small, unmonitored park above the plate in Sector Five, two blocks east of and above the one in the slum below. The natural setting soothed the young man, and there were birds and diggers for Dark Nation to hunt, which the Guard Hound very much enjoyed doing. All in all, a grand spot to meet someone when you did not want to be seen or have your conversation overheard.

Tseng bowed, walking out to give the General the message. Things were beginning to move now, at a pace that he was hoping was quick enough to outpace the President's grasping hand. _We are moving into a dangerous time. . .but no way am I by all of the Guardians doing anything to disappoint Aerith. I care for her far too much to allow her to be sad as I know she would be should Reno be executed to appease the masses for that old bastard's greed. _

Barret wanted desperately to say no when Tifa had asked him to help them. "I know he's your friend, Tifa. And I know he loves dat boy, but dat boy be ShinRa. We took our lives in our hands helpin' those no good company boys when Meteor came as it was. Now you want me to help keep onea those no good killers safe?" He growled, but those claret eyes. . .it was hard to resist them.

"Barret, think about how Aerith would feel if something happened to him. Aerith is a sweetheart, and said Turk is her _cousin_, Barret. Think how you would feel if you were in Aerith's place, and it were Jessie or Wedge or Biggs or even _Dyne_ in Reno's. You'd want Rude to help you, right? You know you would. So please. . .please don't turn this down. " Tifa's tone was a plea, heartfelt. She didn't know Reno well, and yes, discovering that her childhood friend loved the man in a way he never would her had stung, but still. . .he was her friend, and she wasn't about to let him down.

Finally, the big black man groaned. "Never could say no to you. All right. But only for Aerith, ya got me?"


End file.
